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The  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians 
and  Their  History, 


AND 


The  Story  of  Padilla. 


By 
GEORGE  P.  MOREHOUSE. 


STATE  PRINTING  OFFICE, 
TOPEKA,   1908. 


*> 


WAH-MOH-0-E-KE, 
the  second  signer  of  the  last  treaty. 


WAH-SHUN-GAH, 
the  last  chief  of  the  Kansa. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  KANSA  OR  KAW  INDIANS. 

Address  by  George  P.  Morehouse.  1  of  Topeka,  before  the  Kansas  State  Historical  Society . 
at  its  thirty-first  annual  meeting,  December  4,  1906. 

VNYTHING  pertaining  to  the  Indian  tribe  that  gave  a  name  to  our  com- 
monwealth and  to  the  largest  river  and  city  within  its  borders  will 
always  have  a  peculiar  interest  to  all  true  Kansans  and  to  those  who  are 
ever  eager  to  know  more  about  the  early  history  of  the  "Sunflower  "  state. 

The  majority  of  the  tribes  resident  in  Kansas  during  the  past  century 
were  immigrants,  brought  here  from  Eastern  states  within  the  memory  of 
those  now  living— the  remnants  of  nations  whose  important  history  took 
place  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi  river.  These  immigrant  tribes 
never  had  that  strong  attachment  for  their  new  home  they  would  have  pos- 
sessed had  they  been  to  the  manor  born. 

Not  so  with  the  Kansa  nation.  Its  earliest  recorded  accounts  represent 
the  tribe  as  owner  of  most  of  that  imperial  pasture  now  called  Kansas. 
Here  the  Kansa  were  born,  had  lived,  acted  and  passed  on  for  many  gene- 
rations ;  here  they  had  hunted,  fished  and  fought ;  here  was  their  home, 
with  all  the  sacred  associations  of  home ;  and  though  an  Indian  home,  what 
an  empire  to  these  first  native  sons  of  Kansas!  Within  this  wonderful 
prairie  domain  they  had  experienced  the  high  fervor  of  victorious  conquest, 
and  anon  the  bitterness  of  disastrous  defeat.  Its  ample  sustaining  re- 
sources were  on  every  hand— the  secrets  of  nature,  from  the  wooded 
streams  and  rich  bottom-lands  of  the  Missouri  border  to  the  vast  treeless 
areas  of  the  great  plains,  all  teeming  with  game  of  every  character,  were 
to  them  revealed  as  an  inspiration  and  an  open  book. 

"Look  now  abroad— another  race  has  filled 
These  populous  borders.     Wide  the  wood  recedes, 
And  towns  shoot  up  and  fertile  realms  are  tilled — 
The  land  is  full  of  harvests  and  green  meads." 

The  first  recorded  mention  of  the  Kansa  nation  is  found  in  the  account 
of  the  explorations  of  Juan  de  Ohate,  who  met  them  on  our  plains  in  1601, 
in  his  attempt  to  reach,  as  Coronado  did  in  1541,  the  land  of  the  Quiviras. 
Ohate  had  first  colonized  New  Mexico  and  settled  many  valleys  of  that 
Spanish  province  with  the  130  families  and  400  soldiers  accompanying  him, 
and  the  many  immigrants  that  followed.  Farms  were  cultivated,  towns 
builded,  convents  established,  and  civilization  was  thus  brought  to  New 
Mexico,  where  with  little  change  it  exists  to-day.  After  gaining  the  friend- 
ship of  the  native  Indians,  Ohate  became  fired  with  other  ambitions,  other 
fields  to  conquer.  Remembering  that  Coronado  had  penetrated  far  to  the 
northeast  only  sixty  years  before,  and  had  crossed  the  plains  to  the  noted 
Quivira— what  more  daring  and  inviting  field  could  be  presented  ? 

With  a  picked  company  of  eighty  soldiers,  a  large  number  of  armed  In- 
dians, with  their  bows,  arrows  and  spears,  several  guides  and  two  friars, 
and  a  full  equipment  for  either  peace  or  war,  this  pioneer  pageant  marched 
eastward  and  was  soon  in  the  heart  of  the  buffalo  country.     Here,  as  it  has 

Note  1.—  Biography  in  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  vol.  8,  p.  137. 


264&3)13 


4  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

been  said,  ' '  They  marched,  as  Coronado  had  marched  more  than  a  half-cen- 
tury before,  over  the  great  plains  toward  the  east,  finding  the  same  clear 
atmosphere,  the  same  unvarying  prairie,  the  same  grapes  and  plums,  the 
same  enormous  herds  of  buffalo,  the  same  wandering  tribes  of  Indians, 
which  had  no  doubt  been  here  from  time  immemorial. ' '  Finally  they  came 
to  hills  and  bluffs,  and  passed  along  creeks,  rivers  and  valleys  where  grew 
the  mulberry,  grape  and  plum;  and,  having  traveled  over  200  leagues,  they 
were  doubtless  in  the  heart  of  what  is  now  the  eastern  half  of  the  state  of 
Kansas.  Here  they  met  the  tribe  of  Indians  they  called  the  Escansaques 2 
( Kansa) ,  a  wild  and  powerful  tribe,  who  were  out  on  their  annual  raid  to 
plunder  the  cultivated  country  of  the  Quivirans.  It  seems  that  there  was 
great  enmity  between  these  tribes  at  that  period,  and  may  it  not  be  that 
this  answers  the  question,  "What  became  of  the  Quivirans?"— that  the 
more  peacefully  inclined  Quivirans  were  finally  crushed  between  the  upper 
and  nether  millstones— the  Escansaques  on  the  east  and  the  Apaches  and 
Paducahs  on  the  west. 

Ofiate  found  these  marauding  ancestors  of  the  Kansa  bent  upon  destroy- 
ing the  Quivirans,  who  at  that  time  lived  along  a  valley  close  to  their  culti- 
vated fields.  According  to  Professor  Brower  and  others,  their  home  was 
on  the  Smoky  Hill  and  Kansas  rivers,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present 
Junction  City,  though  some  locate  Quivira  on  the  Missouri  river,  farther 
to  the  northeast. 

There  arose  some  difficulty  between  the  sons  of  Spain  and  their  new  ac- 
quaintances, and  it  seems  that  the  Franciscan  friars  with  Ofiate  were  deter- 
mined to  teach  the  Escansaques  a  lesson,  not  to  make  further  raids  upon 
the  more  docile  Quivirans.  It  was  surely  heroic  treatment,  for  it  is  said 
that  1000  Escansaques  were  slain.  This  seems  incredible,  and  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  old  Spanish  writers  used  the  term  "thousand"  in 
rather  a  careless  manner,  when  describing  their  conquests.  However,  this 
friendly  act  established  a  strong  attachment  between  the  dwellers  of  Quivira 
and  the  Spanish,  for  in  a  few  years  an  army  of  800  Quivirans  appeared  at 
the  gates  of  old  Santa  Fe  to  solicit  further  aid  in  fighting  their  enemies. 
After  this  first  recorded  battle  with  the  Kansa,  Oiiate  continued  on  and  ap- 
proached the  city  or  villages  of  the  Quivirans,  situated  on  the  bank  of  a 
large  river,  and  soon  entered  into  a  perpetual  treaty  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship with  them. 

To  us  the  most  interesting  feature  of  this  early  expedition  is  that  it  came 
in  contact  with  the  Kansa  Indians. 

What  an  awe-inspiring  sight  this  spectacular  pageant  must  have  been  to 
them,  as  it  moved  across  their  favorite  hunting-grounds!  What  a  scene  of 
thrilling  beauty  greeted  these  adventurers,  as  they  passed  over  these  limit- 
less plains  and  along  the  margins  of  the  wooded  streams  on  that  memorable 
trip  300  years  ago! 

While  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  exact  location  of  Quivira— whether 
it  was  in  the  Kaw  valley  or  on  the  Missouri— in  either  event  it  must  have 
been  in  the  region  of  the  hunting-grounds  and  habitat  of  the  Kansa  nation, 
when  first  visited  a  hundred  years  later  by  French  explorers. 

Ofiate  says  that  the  Escansaques  and  the  Quivirans  were  hereditary  ene- 

Note  2.  — "If  the  'Escansaques'  or  '  Excan  jaques '  are  identical  with  the  Kansa,  and  there 
is  every  reason  for  believing  them  to  be  the  same,  then  the  first  mention  of  the  tribe  was  made 
in  1599,  by  Juan  de  Onate,  who  encountered  them  on  an  expedition  to  find  the  'Quivira'  of  Coro- 
nado in  the  region  of  the  great  plains."— F.  W.  Hodge,  in  Brower's  Missouri  River,  1897,  p.  165. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  5 

mies.  Professor  Dunbar  presents  convincing  proof  that  the  Quivirans  were 
the  early  Pawnees.  This  would  seem  to  add  more  evidence  to  prove  the  old 
and  well-known  saying  that  the  Kansa  and  Pawnees  were  enemies  from 
time  immemorial.  One  of  the  old  traditional  questions  handed  down  in  the 
Kansa  nation  to  modern  times,  and  a  question  that  was  first  asked  of  a  re- 
turning hunting  or  war  party,  was  <4Pah-ne-its-es-skah?"  "Did  you  kill  a 
Pawnee?" 

According  to  their  language  and  traditions,3  many  hundreds  of  years  ago 
the  five  tribes,  Kansa,  Osage,  Omaha,  Ponka  and  Kwapa,  were  one  people, 
and  lived  along  the  Wabash  and  far  up  the  Ohio.  There  was  even  a  tradi- 
tion that  their  home  at  one  time  was  near  the  shores  of  "the  sea  of  the 
rising  sun,"  from  whence  came  the  mysterious  sacred  shells  of  the  tribe. 
For  some  reason  they  worked  westward,  probably  pressed  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  superior  forces.  Coming  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  there  was  a 
separation.  Those  going  down  the  Mississippi  took  the  name  Kwapa,  or 
down-stream  people,  while  those  going  up  the  river  were  called  Omaha,  or 
up-stream  people.  As  De  Soto  found  the  Kwapa,  also  known  as  "Akansa," 
in  1541  as  a  distinct  tribe,  this  division  took  place  prior  to  that  date,  and 
probably  prior  to  the  year  1500.  The  up-stream  people,  of  which  the  Kansa 
formed  a  part,  reaching  the  Missouri,  followed  up  that' stream.  Another 
division  then  took  place,  the  Omaha  and  Ponka  passing  far  to  the  north  and 
northwest— the  Omaha  gathering  south  of  the  Missouri  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Platte,  and  the  Ponka  locating  toward  the  Black  Hills. 

The  Osage  and  Kansa  being  left  behind,  the  former  passed  up  the  stream 
which  took  their  name,  and  the  Kansa,  coming  to  the  junction  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  the  Kansas  rivers,  established  themselves  probably  at  a  permanent 
settlement  within  the  forks,  and  claimed  the  Kansas  valley  as  their  heritage. 
At  least,  the  stream  very  early  acquired  their  name.  It  is  supposed  that 
subsequently  the  tribe  continued  to  move  up  the  Missouri,  and  had  reached 
its  most  northern  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek,  now  Doni- 
phan county,  Kansas,  prior  to  1724,  when  visited  by  Bourgmont.  In  1757, 
though  still  residing  in  part  on  the  Missouri,  they  had  established  themselves 
in  at  least  one  village  upon  the  Kaw.  About  the  time  of  the  Revolution 
they  had  entirely  abandoned  the  Missouri.  Their  life  upon  the  historic  Kan- 
sas river  extended  until  1847,  when  they  were  moved  to  a  reservation  in  the 
Neosho  valley  near  Council  Grove.  Here  they  lived  until  the  year  1873, 
when  they  went  to  their  present  home  in  the  Indian  Territory  (now  Okla- 
homa). During  their  early  history  the  Kansa  were  a  powerful  tribe,  both  in 
numbers  and  in  influence.  At  present  (1907)  they  number  only  193  allotted 
members,  of  whom  but  70  are  full-bloods. 

MONCACHTAPE,  THE  INTERPRETER.4 
Moncachtape  (one  who  destroys  obstacles  and  overcomes  fatigues)  was  a 
strange  but  capable  character,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  visit  and  tell  any- 
thing about  the  Kansa  Indians  to  the  outside  world. 

Moncacht  was  a  Yazoo  Indian,  with  possibly  French  blood  in  his  veins. 
Some  time  about  1700,  he  traversed  the  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean,  visiting 

Note  3.  -Fifteenth  annual  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  page  191. 

Note  4.— Dumont's  Memoires  surla  Louisiane,  Paris,  1753,  vol.  2,  p.  246;  Histoire  de  la  Louis- 
iane,  Paris,  1758,  Le  Page  du  Pratz;  Proceedings  of  Literary  and  Hist.  Soc.  of  Quebec,  1829;  Revue 
d' Anthropologic,  1881;  Windsor's  Mississippi  Basin,  pp.  210-213. 


6  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

numerous  Indian  tribes  and  learning  their  languages.  It  seems  that  he  de- 
sired information  regarding  the  origin  of  his  race,  and  went  from  tribe  to 
tribe  in  his  search.  At  first,  he  passed  to  the  east,  thinking  the  cradle  of 
the  race  was  toward  the  rising  sun.  He  traveled  until  he  came  to  the  lower 
lake  regions  and  learned  of  the  falls  of  Niagara  and  the  wonderful  high 
tides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  Afterward  he  traversed  the  far  West,  passing 
along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  which  streams 
he  minutely  described.  Following  the  Missouri  river,  he  came  to  the  Missouri 
Indian  nation,  and,  staying  with  them  all  of  one  winter,  learned  their  lan- 
guage. When  spring  opened  he  went  further  up  that  stream  till  he  came 
to  the  great  village  of  the  Canzes,  near  the  present  site  of  Doniphan,  Atchison 
county,  Kansas,  and  stopped  for  some  time.  From  these  Indians  he  first 
learned  of  the  great  divide,  beyond  which  was  a  river  that  flowed  toward 
the  west,  supposed  to  be  the  Columbia.  Continuing  his  journey,  Moncacht 
passed  down  that  stream  to  the  sea,  where  he  saw  a  strange  ship  manned 
by  strange  people,  which  had  come  to  those  shores  for  cargoes.  After 
wandering  for  five  years,  he  returned  to  the  Mississippi  valley  and  his  home 
near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  He  was  known  as  "The  Interpreter,"  from  his 
ability  to  acquire  different  Indian  languages,  learning  from  one  tribe  some- 
thing of  the  language  of  the  next  one  to  be  visited. 

THE  FRENCH  AND  THE  KANSA. 

The  French  association  with  the  Kansa  nation,  while  not  as  early  and 
spectacular  as  that  of  the  Spanish,  was  altogether  more  peaceful  and  far- 
reaching. 

It  seems  that  Frenchmen,  whether  explorers,  traders,  trappers  or  mis- 
sionaries, have  been  more  fortunate  in  their  intercourse  with  the  American 
Indian  than  have  the  other  nations.  It  would  have  been  much  better  for  the 
general  welfare  of  both  races  had  the  entire  management  of  Indian  affairs 
from  the  first  been  in  the  hands  of  Frenchmen.  There  seems  to  be  some- 
thing in  the  general  composition  of  the  French  nature,  whether  trader  or 
priest— some  capacity— which  always  reaches  the  Indian  and  secures  his 
highest  confidence. 

The  brightest  spots  through  three  centuries  of  dishonor  in  our  country's 
dealing  with  the  Indian  have  been  the  successful  and  honorable  social  and 
business  relations  of  the  French  with  these  dusky  children  of  the  forest  and 
plain,  and  especially  the  self-sacrificing  services  in  their  behalf  of  the  French 
missionaries  of  the  Cross.  The  French  authorities  made  early  attempts  to 
spread  missions  among  the  Western  Indians  with  whom  they  came  in  contact. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  French  first  visited  the  Kansa,  in  1705,  as  Maj.  Amos 
Stoddard  says  that,  failing  in  attempted  settlements  on  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi, they  turned  their  attention  to  the  Missouri  river,  which  they  ascended 
to  its  mouth  by  1705,  where  they  met  with  a  welcome  reception  from  the 
Indians. 5 

As  an  instance  of  the  great  influence  the  French  had  over  the  Indians, 
the  following  is  interesting:  Chtoka,  alias  Wet  Stone,  a  Little  Osage,  told 
Pike,  during  his  visit  to  that  tribe  in  1806,  that  he  was  at  Braddock's  defeat 
in  1755,  with  all  the  warriors  who  could  be  spared  from  both  villages.  It 
seems  that  the  Indians  were  engaged  by  Mr.  McCartie,  who  commanded  at 
Fort  Chartres,  and  he  furnished  them  with  powder  and  ball.     The  place  of 

Note  5.— Sketches  of  Louisiana,  page  28. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Raw  Indians.  7 

rendezvous  was  near  a  lake  and  a  large  fall  (Niagara).  It  seems  that  the 
Kansa  Indians  were  also  on  the  ground  with  a  select  band  of  warriors  to 
assist  the  French,  but  arrived  just  at  the  close  of  the  fight.  These  Indians 
from  beyond  the  Mississippi  had  many  hardships  in  returning  to  their  dis- 
tant homes,  and  were  gone  seven  months,  or  till  the  inclemency  of  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  and  were  driven  to  eat  their  horses  upon  the  return  trip.6 

LIEUTENANT  PIKE  AND  THE  KANSA. 

FIRST  TREATY  BETWEEN  THE   UNITED  STATES  AND  THIS  TRIBE. 

After  the  Louisiana  purchase  of  1803,  the  United  States  desired  to  open 
up  at  once  friendly  relations  with  the  numerous  Indian  nations  which  occu- 
pied that  new  possession.  It  was  the  desire  of  the  government  to  win  and 
hold  the  favor  of  these  children  of  the  plains  to  the  same  degree  of  influence 
held  by  the  French. 

One  of  the  leading  objects  of  the  Pike  expedition  of  1806  was  to  meet 
these  tribes  and  bring  about  peace  between  certain  warring  nations.  This 
would  more  fully  strengthen  the  sway  of  the  United  States  in  the  interior 
and  lessen  the  danger  of  Spanish  encroachments  upon  the  newly  acquired 
and  unprotected  frontier. 

When  Pike  visited  the  Osage  villages  on  his  outward  trip  he  found  them 
at  war  with  the  "|Kans,"  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  induced  some  of 
them  to  go  with  him  to  guide  the  expedition  to  the  Pawnee  republic  in 
northern  Kansas.  A  number  consented,  but  they  took  him  in  a  roundabout 
way,  fully  100  miles  further  than  necessary,  because,  as  Pike  says,  of  their 
fear  of  their  enemies,  the  Kans. 

After  the  command  reached  the  Pawnee  village  a  dozen  "Kans"  came 
into  the  camp,  and  Pike  induced  two  of  them  to  accompany  the  expedition. 

Pike  learned  that  the  Spanish  military  force,  which  had  visited  the  Paw- 
nees a  few  weeks  prior  to  his  arrival,  had  instructions  to  treat  with  the 
Kansa  nation,  as  well  as  other  tribes,  and  was  provided  with  medals,  com- 
missions and  mules  for  each  one;  but  it  seems  that  they  treated  only  with 
the  Pawnees.  It  was  fortunate  that  Lieutenant  Malgares  did  not  visit  the 
Kansa,  for  notwithstanding  their  great  loyalty  to  the  French,  they  might 
have  been  moved  by  the  gifts  and  overtures  of  these  explorers  from  the  far 
Southwest  and  forgotten  the  disastrous  meeting  with  Onate.  The  Kansa 
were  always  true  to  the  French,  never  liking  the  Spanish,  and  for  the  most 
part  were  loyal  to  American  interests. 

On  the  28th  day  of  September,  1806,  Pike  induced  his  new-found  Kansa 
friends  to  go  into  a  treaty  council  with  him  and  with  the  Osages  of  his 
party,  and  to  enter  into  an  agreement  of  peace  and  friendship  between  the 
tribes  and  with  the  United  States.  Pike  says  (September  28,  1806):  "I 
effected  a  meeting  at  this  place  [  Pawnee  republic]  between  a  few  Kans 
and  Osages,  who  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  and  buried  the  hatchet,  agree- 
ably to  the  wishes  of  their  great  father;  in  consequence  of  which  a  Kans 
has  marched  for  the  Osage  nation,  and  some  of  the  latter  propose  to  accom- 
pany the  former  to  their  village.  Whether  this  good  understanding  will  be 
permanent  I  will  not  take  on  me  to  determine,  but  at  least  a  temporary 
good  effect  has  succeeded. ' ' 

It  may  be  stated  now,  after  100  years,  that  Pike's  mediation  did  succeed. 

Note  6.-Coues'  Pike,  p.  531. 


8  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

for  it  made  friends  between  these  two  tribes,  which  has  continued  to  the 
present.  Prior  to  1806  the  Kansa  and  Osages  had  been  at  war  for  many 
years— possibly  since  their  separation  from  each  other  generations  before, 
when  they  differed  and  became  two  distinct  nations. 

The  next  day  was  Pike's  memorable  council  day  with  the  Pawnees,  when 
he  required  them  to  pull  down  the  Spanish  colors  and  raise  the  stars  and 
stripes.  The  Kansa  representatives  were  there  and  helped  along  the  cere- 
monies, and  were  highly  pleased  when  the  American  banner  went  up.  The 
Kansa  friends  openly  professed  to  be  under  American  protection,  which 
doubtless  encouraged  the  Pawnees  in  their  change,  and  in  many  other  ways 
assisted  Pike  by  advice  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Pawnees. 

During  Pike's  time,  and  for  many  years,  the  Kansa  nation  had  a  high 
reputation  for  the  skill  and  bravery  of  its  warriors,  and  it  seems  remarkable 
that  they  were  able  to  hold  their  own,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  so  many 
powerful  tribes  greater  in  point  of  number,  if  not  in  prowess,  when  com- 
pared with  the  smaller  Kansa  nation. 

Pike  bears  deserved  tribute  to  their  traits  of  bravery  when  he  says:  "In 
war  they  are  yet  more  courageous  than  their  Osage  brethren;  being,  al- 
though not  more  than  one-third  of  their  number,  their  most  dreaded  ene- 
mies, and  frequently  making  the  Pawnees  tremble." 

I  notice  that  Pike  and  other  writers,  in  enumerating  Indian  tribes,  where 
mention  is  made  of  the  Kansa  nation,  often  places  it  at  the  head  of  the  list. 
Being  rather  a  small  nation  as  compared  with  the  Sioux  and  Pawnees,  who 
pressed  them  on  the  north,  and  the  great  plains  tribes,  continually  beating 
them  back  from  the  best  buffalo-hunting  grounds,  it  is  remarkable  that  they 
held  their  own  for  so' long  a  time.  The  Kansa  seldom  initiated  war  just  for 
the  love  of  fighting.  During  the  last  century  of  their  active  tribal  life  they 
usually  fought  on  the  defensive.  They  were  not  slow  to  defend  themselves 
when  attacked,  and  on  their  annual  unting  trips,  when  small  parties  of 
their  braves  were  often  assailed  by  much  larger  forces,  it  was  frequently 
said  that  "a  handful  of  the  Kansa  on  the  plains,  by  their  skilful  defensive 
maneuvres,  could  put  to  flight  several  times  their  number  of  enemies." 
Their  custom  of  fearlessly  going  far  out  on  the  plains  in  small  hunting  par- 
ties, where  they  often  encountered  larger  bands  of  the  fiercest  plains  In- 
dians, often  excited  surprise  and  wonder  from  both  white  man  and  Indian. 
Some  Indians  wantonly  killed  game  to  deprive  others  of  its  use.  This  the 
Kansa  never  did,  killing  only  enough  for  their  own  use  and  a  moderate 
amount  to  sell,  when  there  was  a  market. 

THE  NAME  OF  THE  TRIBE,    THE  KANSA— ITS  SOURCE. 

During  the  past  300  years,  since  the  name  was  first  written,  there  have 
been  numerous  methods  of  spelling  the  designation  of  this  tribe— the  Kansa. 
To  follow  the  many  changes  through  which  the  word  has  passed  to  its  pres- 
ent form  would,  within  itself,  be  an  interesting  study.  Probably  no  historic 
name  in  America  has  gone  through  so  many  chariges,  with  so  frequent  va- 
riation, on  maps  and  in  books.  In  the  ninth  volume  of  the  Kansas  Histor- 
ical Collections,  Professor  Hay's  article  on  the  name  Kansas,  prepared  in 
1882,  gives  twenty-four  ways  of  spelling  the  word.  The  editors  of  volume 
9,  in  a  foot-note,  add  some  twenty  additional  forms,  and  for  several  years 
past  I  have  been  gathering  similar  data  coupled  with  the  authority  for  the 
same.     At  present,  1907,  I  have  all  of  the  forty-four  forms  above  mentioned 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaiv  Indians.  9 

and  twice  as  many  beside,  or,  in  all,  over  125  ways  used  in  the  past  to  spell 
the  name  designating  this  tribe  of  Indians,  the  verbal  forerunners  of  the 
word  Kansas.  At  some  future  time  I  will  prepare  an  article  on  this  subject, 
giving  these  names  and  the  authorities  using  them,  but  at  present  will  only 
note  some  of  the  more  important  and  marked  features. 

For  the  initial,  we  find  C  and  K  and  Qu;  using  a  or  o  for  the  first  vowel, 
and  with  or  without  the  final  s  in  the  singular.  The  following  curious 
double  plurals  are  noticed:  ces,  cez,  ses,  sez,  and  sais.  There  are  several 
adjective  forms,  like  Kanzan,  Canzan,  Kanzon,  Canzon,  etc.  Among  the 
simplest  forms  of  the  word  are  Kan,  Kaw,  Can,  Caw,  and  then  the  longer 
forms,  Kantha,  Kansies,  Kancez,  Ka-anzou,  Kanissi,  and  many  others  be- 
ginning with  K;  then  we  note  the  many  odd  forms  beginning  with  C,  as 
Canceze,  Canchez,  Canceas,  Canceys,  Canses,  etc.  Among  the  most  pecu- 
liar forms  are  Quans,  Kensier,  Caugh,  while  the  most  complicated  are  Es- 
cansaques,  Excanjaques,  Escanxaques  and  Excansaquex. 

But  seeing  that  I  have  reached  the  stage  of  having  to  spell  Kansas  with 
;',  q,  u,  x,  and  z,  I  will  stop,  fearing  it  might  hinder  President  Roosevelt, 
who  is  interested  in  simplified  spelling.  While  he  has  been  trying  to  decide 
the  preferable  of  two  ways  of  spelling  certain  words,  a  Kansan  is  exploit- 
ing over  125  ways  of  spelling  the  name  of  one  of  his  favorite  Western 
states. 

In  this  article  I  will  refer  to  the  tribe  as  the  "Kansa."  Although  they 
were  often  and  are  still  called  the  Kaw,  Kansa  is  preferable,  and  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology.  It  seems  to  harmonize  more 
in  sound  with  a  majority  of  the  forms  of  the  word  used  by  the  early  writers 
in  mentioning  the  nation. 

From  whence  comes  this  word  Kansa  and  what  is  its  signification?  Most 
historians  have  stated  that  it  was  an  Indian  word  of  doubtful  meaning ; 
others  have  attributed  to  the  word  meanings  which  are  clearly  erroneous. 
Richardson,  in  Beyond  the  Mississippi,  1857,  says  that  it  signifies  smoky, 
and  several  historians,  like  Holloway,  have  followed  this  manifest  error. 
The  Kansa  word  for  smoke  and  smoky  is  shu-jeh,  and  I  know  of  no  Indian 
word  regarding  smoke  that  resembles  in  the  slightest  the  word  Kansa. 
Dorsey,  an  authority  on  Siouan  languages,  says  the  word  "refers  to  winds," 
or  wind  people,  but  that  its  exact  meaning  is  not  known. 7 

For  several  years  I  have  given  this  question  considerable  attention,  and 
after  examining  numerous  sources  of  information,  believe  that  I  have  dis- 
covered the  true  source  of  the  word  Kansa  and  arrived  at  its  real  meaning. 
The  trouble  has  been  that  the  writers  regarding  this  tribe  and  its  name 
have  only  gone  back  to  the  records  of  the  French  explorers,  traders  and 
trappers  who  visited  them,  and  have  tried  to  translate  the  word  Kansa  as  if 
if  it  was  either  an  Indian  or  a  French  word. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  French  traders  used  the  name  Kaw  or  Kah  for 
designating  this  tribe,  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  originating  the  word 

Note  7.  — "So  far  as  can  be  determined  the  name  of  Kansa  refers  to  'winds.'  but  the  full 
definition  is  unknown."— F.  W.  Hodge,  in  Brower's  Missouri  River,  1897,  p.  165.  "The  name  of 
the  Kansas  river  is  doubtless  derived  from  the  Kansas  Indians  who  lived  on  that  stream.  They 
were  often  called  '  Kaws,'  and  the  river  in  an  early  day  was  called  Kaw  river.  The  lowas  called 
the  Indians  Kantha,  which  means  swift.  Their  own  (the  Kansas  Indians)  mode  of  pronouncing 
that  word  would  be  Ka-za,  and  this  they  called  themselves,  but  whether  they  had  another  name 
I  am  unable  to  say.  Most  Indians  speak  of  themselves  by  a  different  name  from  that  by  which 
they  are  known  by  the  surrounding  tribes."— Wm.  Hamilton,  in  Transactions  of  Nebraska  State 
Historical  Society,  vol.  1,  p.  73. 


10  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

Cansa  or  Kansa.  Kaw  or  Kah  are  nicknames  or  abbreviations  of  Kawsa, 
Kahsah,  Kauzau,  Cauzes,  and  a  dozen  other  forms  with  similar  first  syllables. 

An  old  Osage  Indian  once  said  that  the  name  Kaw  or  Kah-sah  was  a  term 
of  ridicule  once  given  by  the  Osages  to  the  Kansa  because  they  would  not 
join  the  former  tribe  in  a  war  against  the  Cherokees,  the  term  meaning 
coward. 8  This  explanation  of  the  word  is  not  deserving  of  serious  considera- 
tion, for  the  time  that  the  Osages  and  the  Kansa  had  some  differences  over 
the  question  of  going  to  war  with  the  Cherokees  was  long  subsequent  to  the 
time  when  the  Kansa  were  known  to  history  by  this  well-known  name.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  Cherokees  first  migrated 
into  Arkansas,  the  Osages  disliked  them  and  wished  the  Kansa  to  join  in  a 
general  war  against  the  Cherokees.  This  the  Kansa  refused,  and  the  Cher- 
kees  came  into  eastern  Oklahoma,  which  deprived  the  Osages  of  certain 
territory,  and  the  Osages  laid  it  up  against  the  Kansa  nation;  but  it  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  giving  of  the  latter  name.  Even  if  this  term  Kah- 
sah was  applied  to  them  by  Osages,  and  even  if  it  did  mean  coward,  of 
which  there  is  no  evidence,  it  does  not  explain  the  older  and  more  general 
word  Kansa,  which  was  used  by  Marquette  in  1673.  or  over  100  years  before 
this  alleged  trouble  between  the  Osages  and  Kansa  over  the  Cherokees. 

I  find  that  the  dates  of  the  authorities  using  Kah,  Kaw  or  Kau  for  first 
syllable,  such  as  Kah-sah,  Kaw-sa,  Kau  sas,  etc.,  are  all  during  the  past 
100  years,  or  since  1804,  and  that  the  first  instance  is  found  in  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  reports  of  their  expedition  of  that  year. 

The  names  used  to  designate  this  tribe  for  200  years  prior  to  that  date 
have  the  Kan  or  Can  forms  as  the  first  part,  which  expresses  the  sound  in 
the  more  ancient  forms  as  well  as  the  form  in  popular  use  to-day.  This 
form,  Cansa  or  Kansa,  same  in  sound,  was  first  used  by  the  Spanish,  to 
which  I  will  refer  later  on,  then  by  Father  Marquette,  and  finally  by  French 
explorers  and  writers  for  125  years  after  his  time.  This  would  seem  to 
establish  beyond  any  doubt,  even  from  French  sources,  that  this  form  of 
the  name  was  by  far  the  older,  and  their  original  and  proper  appellation,  that 
by  which  they  were  first  designated  by  the  whites.  The  Kah-sah,  Kaw-sa 
and  Kau-zau  types  are  corruptions  of  the  far  older  and  expressive  name 
Kan-sa.  In  pronouncing  Kan-sa,  the  hasty  French  would  fail  to  nasalize  the 
n,  which  would  disappear,  and  the  first  syllable  of  the  word,  with  a  broad  a, 
would  become  Kah  or  Kaw,  and  thus  Kan-sa  would  become  Kah-sa  or  Kaw  sa, 
Afterward,  by  abbreviation,  these  names  became  Kaw,  the  nickname  of  the 
French  trader. 

Kausus  was  used  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  1804;  Kauzau  by  McCoy,  1840; 
Kaw  is  found  in  Gregg's  Commerce  of  the  Prairies,  1850,  as  used  while  the 
tribe  lived  at  Council  Grove,  1847-1873,  and  by  plainsmen  during  the  border 
days,  and  is  still  in  common  use  in  Kansas,  and  at  the  present  home  of  the 
tribe  in  Oklahoma. 

It  may  be  wise  to  preserve  this  French-Canadian  name  Kaw,  in  referring 
to  the  Kansas  river;  but  it  is  a  nickname,  a  misnomer,  means  nothing,  has 
no  good  foundation,  and  it  should  not  be  applied  to  the  tribe,  for  it  was  not 
its  name.  Instead,  the  form  Kansa  should  be  used,  it  being  the  ancient  and 
expressive  word,  the  name  of  our  state,  and  is  supported  by  the  weight  of 
scores  of  authorities  during  the  past  300  years. 

Note  8.— Dickerson's  Osage  Nation,  p.  2. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  11 

This  famous  historic  word  Cansa  or  Kansa  is  neither  of  Indian  nor  French 
origin,  and  it  is  useless  to  look  to  those  languages  for  some  strained  and 
vague  signification.  The  word  is  plain  Spanish,  and  as  such  has  a  well- 
defined  and  expressive  meaning  when  applied  to  an  Indian  tribe,  and  espe- 
cially when  used  to  designate  that  Indian  tribe  from  which  our  state  takes 
its  noted  name. 

Cansa  or  Kansa  means  "a  troublesome  people,  those  who  continually  dis- 
turb and  harass  others. ' '  It  comes  from  the  Spanish  verb  cansar,  which 
means  "to  molest,  to  stir  up,  to  harass,"  and  from  the  Spanish  noun  can- 
sado,  "a  troublesome  fellow,  a  disturber." 

So  when  the  Spanish  explorer  Onate,  on  his  trip  of  1601,  met  this  tribe 
and  learned  that  they  annually  pillaged  and  made  war  upon  the  Quivirans, 
and  were  always  ready  for  a  fight,  he  called  them  Escansaques,  "the  disturb- 
ers, the  troublesome."  From  this  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  name  "wind 
people"  might  have  been  used  in  referring  to  the  tribe,  and  suggested,  as  it 
has  to  some,  that  the  meaning  of  the  word  was,  "those  who  come  like  the 
winds  sweeping  across  the  prairies,"  the  wind  being  a  disturbing  element 
of  old  plains  days. 

In  the  body  of  the  name  Escansaques  we  have  the  exact  form  used  by 
many  early  writers.  The  sound  of  the  letter  c  being  hard  like  k,  it  is  easy 
to  see  how  early  historians  used  either  as  the  first  letter  of  the  name. 
Many  early  French  writers  follow  closely  the  Spanish  name  Cansa.  In  my 
list  of  over  125  ways  of  spelling  there  are  about  thirty  authorities  with  the 
letter  c  and  having  Can  for  the  first  syllable;  e.  g.,  Cansa,  Canse,  Canceys, 
Canceze,  Canzas,  Canceas,  etc. 

Some  have  thought  that  the  Escansaques  were  the  Utes,  but  the  greater 
weight  of  evidence,  as  I  have  shown,  seems  to  establish  the  fact  that  they 
were  none  other  than  the  Kansa— now  so  considered  by  the  United  States 
authorities  and  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology  at  Washington. 

The  200  leagues  or  more,  500  or  600  miles,  traveled  by  the  Spanish  before 
they  met  the  tribe  they  name  "Escansaques,"  brought  them  to  the  lower 
Kansas  river,  or  to  the  Missouri  river,  in  the  neighborhood  where  the  French 
explorer  found  the  Kansa  in  1724. 

In  all  the  many  ways  the  word  has  been  written,  with  Can,  Kan,  Kon  or 
Quans  as  part  of  the  name,  the  sound  attempted  to  be  conveyed  is  the  same. 
Is  it  strange  that  the  Spanish  name  Cansaques,  the  Es  being  a  mere  prefix, 
should  turn  to  Quans,  Cans,  Canzan,  Canses,  Canceas,  Canze,  Canceys, 
Kansa,  Kances,  Kanse,  Kanses,  Konsa,  Konzo,  as  used  by  different  French 
explorers  and  writers  in  speaking  of  the  nation?  The  Spanish  really  gave 
the  name  Kansa  to  the  world  when  they  called  this  tribe  the  Escansaques— 
for  Cansa  or  Kansa  would  be  the  same  in  sound.  They  first  met  the  tribe, 
and  the  French  who  followed  them  applied  the  same  name  used  by  the 
Spanish  in  designating  this  people.  It  was  probably  first  written  "Kansa" 
by  Marquette,  on  his  famous  autograph  map  of  the  Mississippi,  about  1673 ; 
but  many  succeeding  French  explorers  and  writers  clung  to  the  Spanish 
custom  of  using  "Can  "  as  the  first  part  of  the  name. 

Yes,  the  Spanish  called  this  Indian  nation  Escansaques,  an  expressive 
term,  which  speaks  volumes  regarding  the  character  of  the  tribe  in  those 
early  days.  Those  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  our  state  were  called  "those 
who  harass,"  "those  who  stir  up,"  "disturbers";  and  it  seems  that  the 
latter-day  Kansans— those  who  now  occupy  the  former  homes  of  the  de- 


12  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

parted  red  brothers— are  keeping  up  the  record  by  continually  working  at 
the  same  old  game.  Possibly  they  have  absorbed  from  the  atmosphere  or 
from  the  soil  some  of  the  elements  which  give  them  the  same  characteris- 
tics of  the  nation  of  aboriginees  which,  during  the  dawn  of  Kansas  history, 
was  so  noted  for  getting,  into  the  lime-light  as  disturbers  and  agitators. 
Kansas  will  be  Kansas  no  more  when  she  lapses  into  a  stupid  pace  and 
ceases  to  stir  public  sentiment  along  lines  of  activity.  Let  Kansans  ever 
remember  the  source  and  signification  of  that  name,  a  name  which  has  not 
only  been  used  as  a  slogan  of  unrest  and  agitation  for  300  years,  but  also 
has  been  and  now  is  the  stirring  war-cry  of  advancement  along  many  lines 
which  make  our  state  and  nation  both  interesting  and  great. 

KANSA  VILLAGES  ON  THE  MISSOURI  RIVER. 

"kanses"— "grand  village  des  cansez." 

Many  localities  in  this  state  will  contend  for  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
capital  of  Kansas,  but  all  will  have  to  yield  to  the  claim  of  the  ancient  In- 
dian city  and  government  center  of  the  Kansa  nation  which  occupied  the 
present  site  of  Doniphan,  in  Atchison  county,  Kansas. 

As  has  been  said,  this  once  great  nation  had  villages  along  the  Missouri, 
Kansas,  Neosho  and  their  branches  during  the  period  in  which  they  were 
the  masters  of  a  great  part  of  the  present  state  of  Kansas,  but  to  their 
ancient  capital,  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek,  was  the  distinction 
given  of  being  called,  "Grand  village  des  Cansez,"  or  "Grand  village  des 
Quans. "  It  was  so  known  even  before  the  French  explorer  visited  it  in 
1724,  at  the  time  a  compact  of  friendship  was  formed  which  ever  afterward 
existed  between  this  tribe  and  the  French  people.9 

Mr.  Geo.  J.  Remsburg,  of  Oak  Mills,  who  has  made  a  life  study  of  north- 
eastern Kansas,  and  written  much  on  the  subject,  corroborates  Lewis  and 
Clark's  statement  that  Doniphan  is  the  site  of  the  Grand  village  of  the 
Kansa,  also  known  as  "the  Village  of  the  Twenty-four, ' '  according  to  Major 
Long,  who  made  note  of  its  ruins  in  1819. 

The  first  description  we  have  of  this  famous  spot,  and  the  Indian  nation 
gathered  there,  comes  from  the  account  of  the  visit  of  M.  Etienne  Venyard 
de  Bourgmont,  in  the  summer  of  1724.  This  gentleman  had  been  commis- 
sioned military  commandant  on  the  Missouri,  in  1720,  by  the  French  govern- 
ment, which  was  alarmed  at  the  attempted  Spanish  invasion  of  the  Missouri 
river  region,  and  desired  to  establish  a  friendship  with  certain  border  tribes, 
which  might  assist  in  preventing  any  further  advancement  of  the  Spanish 
from  the  Santa  Fe  region  toward  the  Missouri  valley. 

The  French  had  reason  to  be  alarmed,  for  they  knew  that  the  Spanish 
were  attempting  to  colonize  the  Missouri  valley,  drawn  thereto  by  their  own 
explorations  and  the  reports  of  valuable  mines,10  and  intending  to  open  up 

Note  9.— Margry,  vol.  6,  p.  393. 

Note  10.— The  following  letter  to  the  secretary  of  the  Historical  Society  will  serve  as  a  sequel 
to  the  note  on  page  17  of  the  Ninth  Volume  of  Collections  of  the  Kansas  State  Historical  Society: 

"Council  Grove,  Kan.,  April  15,  1908. 

"In  answer  to  yours  of  the  11th  instant,  I  would  say  that  at  the  time  I  came  to  this  territory, 
back  in  the  '40's,  there  was  talk  about  a  tin-mine  somewhere  in  the  Smoky  Hill  valley,  and  that 
the  Kaw  Indians  held  a  key  to  the  location.  This  was  the  talk  in  western  Missouri  and  in  this 
territory.  The  Kaws  had  in  their  possession  specimens  of  the  ore.  We  procured  from  them  a 
part  of  it.  had  it  tested,  and  sent  it  to  Washington,  to  the  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs.  I  talked 
with  the  head  men  of  the  tribe  about  the  matter  and  they  said  to  me  that  the  samples  exhibited 
by  some  of  their  tribe  had  been  obtained  by  their  people  from  the  whites  who  were  passing  over 
the  Santa  Fe  trail,  or  from  the  border  settlements  of  western  Missouri.     Various  parties  during- 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  13 

trade  with  the  Indian  tribes  on  French  territory.11  Bourgmont  started  over- 
land for  the  Kanza  village  in  1724,  from  Fort  Orleans,  a  French  stronghold 
established  by  himself  on  the  Missouri  river  the  previous  year,  not  far  from 
the  present  Malta  Bend,  Mo.  With  him  were  M.  Bellerive,  Sieur  Renau- 
diere,  two  soldiers,  and  five  other  Frenchmen,  besides  177  Missouri  and  Osage 
Indians,  under  command  of  their  own  chiefs,  included  in  that  number. 
Several  boat-loads  of  presents,  consisting  of  useful  and  ornamental  articles, 
had  been  sent  on  ahead  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Saint- Ange  and  an  escort  of 
eleven  soldiers.  On  July  7,  1724,  the  overland  party  arrived  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Missouri,  opposite  the  Kansa  village.  They  crossed  the  next 
day  in  a  pirogue  and  on  rafts,  swimming  the  horses,  and  camped  near  the 
village.  Then  began  a  two-weeks  celebration,  councils,  pow-wows,  trading, 
horses  for  merchandise,  and  making  presents  to  the  Indians. 

On  July  24,  they  were  ready  to  proceed  on  their  journey  to  the  land  of 
the  Padoucas  (Comanches)  upon  their  mission  of  peace  and  friendship.  It 
was  surely  an  imposing  procession,  this  grand  departure,  and  Bourgmont 
says:  "We  put  ourselves  in  battle  array  on  the  village  height,  the  drum 
began  to  beat,  and  we  marched  away." 

Besides  Bourgmont's  forces,  the  Kansa  furnished  the  following  escort  to 
this  remarkable  procession:  "Three  hundred  warriors,  commanded  by  two 
grand  chiefs  and  fourteen  war  chiefs,  three  hundred  Indian  women,  five 
hundred  Indian  children,  and  five  hundred  dogs  loaded  down  with  baggage 
and  provisions." 

Unfortunately,  the  summer  was  unusually  sultry,  a  prevalent  fever  at- 
tacked Bourgmont  and  obliged  him  on  the  31st  of  July  to  return  to  Fort 
Orleans,  after  sending  Gaillard  as  messenger  to  the  Padoucas  with  some 
slaves  which  had  been  purchased  from  the  Kansa  to  insure  a  welcome  recep- 
tion for  the  French,  and  to  bear  tidings  of  his  intention  to  visit  them  later. 
By  October  8,  his  health  being  restored,  the  commander  again  set  out  from 
the  Kansa  village,  but  took  in  his  retinue  only  a  few  chiefs  and  head  men  of 
the  Kansa  and  neighboring  tribes.  Bourgmont  reached  the  Padoucas  Octo- 
ber 18,  and  effected  a  peace  treaty  with  them  (heretofore  they  had  been 
friendly  with  the  Spanish),  and  also  induced  them  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of 
peace  and  alliance  with  the  Kansa,  Missouris,  Osages  and  other  tribes. 

the  early  '50's  from  the  borders  of  Missouri  went  in  search  of  the  mine.  In  1852  one  outfit  from 
Jackson  county,  Missouri,  had  a  caravan  of  thirty  teams  and  wagons.  They  distributed  presents 
among  the  Indians  and  spent  several  weeks  in  the  Smoky  Hill  country  searching  for  it,  the  In- 
dians refusing  to  locate  the  treasure.  After  I  talked  with  the  head  men  of  the  nation  I  was 
satisfied  it  was  a  scheme  on  the  part  of  the  few  Indians  claiming  to  know  its  location,  to  make 
money  out  of  the  report,  and  I  refused  to  give  encouragement  to  any  effort  to  locate  it.  For 
about  twenty  years  this  talk  was  kept  up,  and  various  reports  sent  out  to  the  department  at 
Washington,  and  the  department  finally,  during  the  latter  '60's  sent  Colonel  Boone  out  here  to 
investigate  the  matter.  He  came  with  some  blankets,  and  other  presents,  and  distributed  these 
among  the  Indians,  procured  teams  here,  and  I  selected  one  of  the  shrewdest  Indians  to  go  with 
the  commissioners  to  the  Smoky  Hill  to  locate  the  mine.  Maj.  E.  S.  Stover,  then  agent  for  the 
Kaws,  was  one  of  the  commission,  and  went  with  the  party.  I  was  invited  to  accompany  them 
but  declined.  They  spent  several  days  in  the  search.  The  Indian  guided  them  to  the  mouth  of  a 
small  stream  that  enters  into  the  Smoky,  and  the  commissioner  informed  me  that  they  found 
some  specimens  of  some  kind  of  ore,  iron-pyrites,  or  something  of  that  nature.  Since  that  date 
I  have  not  heard  the  tin-mine  spoken  of.  Respectfully,  T.  S.  HuFFAKEK." 

Note  11.— April  21,  1721.  "M.  de  Boisbriant  wrote  M.  de  Bienville  from  the  Illinois,  that  300 
Spaniards  had  left  Santa  Fe.  the  capital  of  New  Mexico,  for  the  purpose  of  conquering  the  colony 
[evidently  a  colony  on  the  Red  river],  but  only  70  had  put  their  threat  into  execution,  who  had  ar- 
rived at  the  Kansas  river,  where  they  encountered  the  Octotata  and  Panis  Indians,  who  massacred 
all  except  a  priest,  who  had  made  his  escape  on  horseback."— Statutes,  Documents  and  Papers 
Bearing  on  the  Boundaries  of  the  Province  of  Ontario,  1878,  p.  100.  Another  account  of  this  same 
expedition  says  that  in  1720  a  Spanish  expedition  led  by  Don  Pedro  Villazur  reached  the  Platte 
river,  and  that  the  party  was  ambuscaded  by  the  Pawnee  Indians  and  practically  destroyed.  —  Ban- 
delier,  in  Papers  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  vol.  5,  p.  179. 


14  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

This  Grand  village  seems  also  to  have  been  a  Jesuit  missionary  station  as 
early  as  1727,  for  lately  I  have  found  in  some  old  French-Canadian  records 
of  the  province  of  Ontario,  an  interesting  fact  not  before  recognized  in 
Kansas  history,  that  the  name  "Kanzas"  was  a  well-known  geographical 
term  to  designate  a  place  on  the  Missouri  river,  within  the  present  borders 
of  our  state,  where  the  French  government  and  its  official  church,  nearly 
200  years  ago,  had  an  important  missionary  center.  These  early  French 
records,  preserved  in  the  "Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of 
the  State  of  New  York,"  contain  this  statement:  "For  the  support  of  a 
missionary  at  Kanzas,  600  livres." 

It  is  significant  as  to  the  standing  of  this  mission  station  of  the  Jesuits 
at  Kanzas,  away  out  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  that  in  this  document  it 
was  classed  along  with  their  other  important  Indian  missions,  such  as  the 
Iroquois,  Abenaquis  and  Tadoussac,  and  that  the  same  amount  per  mission- 
ary was  expended.  It  was  "Kanzas,"  a  mission  charge  on  the  rolls  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers,  for  which  annual  appropriations  of  money  were  made  as  early 
as  1727.  Here  some  of  those  saintly,  self-sacrificing  missionary  pioneers  of 
the  Cross  must  have  come  from  distant  Quebec  and  Montreal,  or  from  the 
far-away  cloisters  of  sunny  France.  What  zeal  and  sacrifice  for  others ! 
Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Kansa  Indians  always  spoke  reverently  of  the 
"black  robes,"  who  were  the  first  to  labor  for  their  welfare  in  that  long- 
ago  period  in  the  wilderness. 

Our  next  authoritative  record  as  to  this  village  „is  given  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  under  date  of  July  4,  1804: 

"We  came  to  and  camped  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  plain,  where  the 
2d  old  Kanzas  village  formerly  stood,  above  the  mouth  of  a  creek,  30 
yards  wide;  this  creek  we  call  Creek  Independence.  As  we  approached  this 
place  the  prairie  had  a  most  beautiful  appearance.  Hills  and  valleys  inter- 
spersed with  copses  of  timber  gave  a  pleasing  diversity  to  the  scenery,  the 
right  fork  of  the  Creek  Independence  meandering  through  the  middle  of  the 
plain.  A  point  of  high  land  near  the  river  gives  an  elevated  situation.  At  this 
place  the  Kanzas  Indians  formerly  lived.  This  town  appears  to  have  covered 
a  large  space.  The  nation  must  have  been  numerous  at  the  time  they  lived 
here.  The  cause  of  their  moving  to  the  Kanzas  river  I  have  never  heard 
nor  can  I  learn.  War  with  their  neighbors  must  have  reduced  this  nation 
and  compelled  them  to  retire  to  a  situation  in  the  plains  better  calculated 
for  their  defense,  and  one  where  they  may  make  use  of  their  horses  with 
good  effect  in  pursuing  their  enemies.  We  closed  the  day  by  a  discharge  of 
our  bow  piece,  [and]  an  extra  gill  of  whisky." 

"July  5th,  1804.  Set  out  very  early;  proceeded  on  near  the  bank  where 
the  old  village  stood  for  two  miles.  The  origin  of  this  old  village  is  uncer- 
tain. M.  de  Bourgmont,  a  French  officer,  who  commanded  a  fort  near  the 
town  of  the  Missouris  [Fort  Orleans]  in  about  the  year  1724.  and  in  July  of 
the  same  year  he  visited  this  village.  At  that  time  the  nation  was  numerous 
and  well  disposed  towards  the  French.  Mr.  Du  Pratz  must  have  been  badly 
informed  as  to  the  cane  opposite  this  place.  We  have  not  seen  one  stalk  of 
reed  or  cane  on  the  Missouris.  He  states  that  the  '  Indians  that  accompanied 
M  de  Bourgmont  crossed  to  the  Canzes  village  on  floats  of  cane.'  These 
people  must  have  been  very  numerous  at  that  time,  as  M.  de  Bourgmont 
was  accompanied  by  300  warriors,  500  young  people  and  300  dogs  of  burthen 
out  of  this  village  The  cause  of  these  Indians  moving  over  to  the  Kanzis 
river  I  have  never  learned." 

Sergeant  Charles  Floyd,' who  accompanied  Lewis  and  Clark,  wrote  the 
following  in  his  journal,  July  5,  1804: 

"Pressed  on  for  two  miles  under  the  bank  of  [where]  the  Old  Kansas 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  15 

village  formerly  stood  in  1724.  The  cause  of  the  Indians  moving  from  this 
place  I  can't  learn,  but  naturally  concluded  that  war  has  reduced  their  na- 
tion and  compelled  them  to  retire  further  into  the  plains  with  a  view  of  de- 
fending themselves,  and  to  observe  their  enemy,  and  to  defend  themselves 
on  horse-back. "  12 

"July  4th.  After  15  miles'  sail,  we  came-to  on  the  north,  a  little  above  a 
creek  on  the  south  side,  about  30  yards  wide,  which  we  called  Independence 
creek,  in  honor  of  the  day,  which  we  could  celebrate  only  by  an  evening  gun, 
and  an  additional  gill  of  whisky  to  the  men. 

"July  5th.  We  crossed  over  to  the  south  and  came  along  the  bank  of  an 
extensive  and  beautiful  prairie,  interspersed  with  copses  of  timber  and 
watered  by  Independence  creek.  On  this  bank  formerly  stood  the  second 
village  of  the  Kansas;  from  the  remains  it  must  have  been  once  a  large 
town."13 

The  remains  of  another  old  Kansa  town,  have  been  found  about  twenty 
miles  down  the  Missouri  from  the  Grand  village,  a  short  distance  below 
Cow  island  (Isle  au  Vache)  and  the  present  Oak  Mills,  in  Atchison  county. 
It  was  evidently  not  as  large  a  town  as  the  Grand  village,  yet  for  certain 
reasons  was  quite  as  important  a  point,  and  should  not  be  forgotten  in  re- 
cording the  early  history  of  Kansas.  It  was  probably  the  first  governmental 
center  in  our  state  where  white  men  lived  in  a  permanent  community, 
erected  buildings,  and  transacted  business.  Here  was  the  old  French  fort 
or  trading-post,  the  ruins  of  which  were  seen  and  noted  by  Lewis  and  Clark. 
But  we  do  not  have  to  entirely  depend  upon  relics  and  ruins  of  this  famous 
spot  for  there  are  records  preserved  in  French-Canadian  archives  telling  of 
its  importance.     Bougainville  on  French  Forts,  in  1757,  says: 

"Kanses.  — In  ascending  this  stream  [the  Missouri  river]  we  meet  the 
village  of  the  Kanses.  We  have  there  a  garrison  with  a  commandant,  ap- 
pointed, as  is  the  case  with  Pimiteoui  and  Fort  Chartres,  by  New  Orleans. 
This  post  produces  one  hundred  bundles  of  furs."14 

Perrih  du  Lac,  in  1802,  says  that  thirty-five  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Kansas  was  found  the  site  of  one  of  the  Kansa  villages.  According  to 
Mr.  Remsburg  these  two  quotations  refer  to  the  village  he  has  described  in 
the  Salt  creek  valley,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Thomas  Daniels,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  he  will  yet  determine  the  exact  position  of  the  old  fort  and  trading- 
post,  about  which  clusters  so  much  that  would  be  of  interest  in  Kansas 
history.     Lewis  and  Clark  mention  it  as  follows: 

"July  2,  1804.  Opposite  our  camp  is  a  valley,  in  which  was  situated  an 
old  village  of  the  Kansas,  between  two  high  points  of  land,  on  the  bank  of 
the  river.  About  a  mile  in  the  rear  of  the  village  was  a  small  fort,  built  by 
the  French  on  an  elevation.  There  are  now  no  traces  of  the  village,  but 
the  situation  of  the  fort  may  be  recognized  by  some  remains  of  chimneys, 
and  the  general  outlines  of  the  fortification,  as  well  as  by  the  fine  spring 
which  supplied  it  with  water.  The  party  who  were  stationed  here  were 
probably  cut  off  by  the  Indians,  as  there  are  no  accounts  of  them."  15 

The  following  extracts  are  also  made  from  the  same  author:16 

"July  2.  We  camped  after  dark  on  the  s.  s.  [starboard  side]  above  the 
island  [Kickapoo  island],  and  opposite  the  first  old  village  of  the  Kanzes, 

Note  12.— Thwaites'  Lewis  and  Clark,  vol.  7,  pp.  15,  16. 

Note  13.— Coues'  Lewis  and  Clark,  pp.  38,  39. 

Note  14.— Statutes,  Documents  and  Papers  Bearing  on  the  Boundaries  of  the  Province  of 
Ontario,  1878.  page  81. 

Note  15.— Coues'  Lewis  and  Clark,  page  37. 

Note  16.—  Thwaites'  Lewis  and  Clark,  vol.  1,  p.  64 ;  vol.  6,  pp.  57,  36. 


16  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

which  was  situated  in  a  valley  between  two  points  of  high  land  and  immedi- 
ately on  the  river  bank.  Back  of  the  village  and  on  rising  ground  at  about 
one  mile  the  French  had  a  garrison  for  some  time  and  made  use  of  water 
out  of  a  spring  running  into  Turkey  creek." 

"  '  First  Old  Kansa  Village,'  thirty-five  miles  up  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Kansas." 

"Twenty-five  miles  further  Turkey  creek  falls  in  on  south  side.  This 
creek  is  but  small,  passes  through  open  bottoms  nearly  parallel  with  the 
Missouri  and  in  rear  of  an  old  Kanzas  village.  This  creek  once  furnished 
water  to  an  old  French  garrison  situated  near  its  mouth." 

Floyd's  Journal  says,  under  date  of  July  3  : 

"Camped  on  the  north  side,  on  the  south  side  was  an  old  French  fort 
who  had  settled  here  to  protect  the  trade  of  this  nation  in  the  valley.  The 
Kansas  had  a  village  between  two  points  of  high  prairie  land,  a  handsome 
situation  for  a  town."17 

Some  have  thought  that  this  village,  which  I  will  term  the  Fort  village, 
was  older  than  the  Grand  village,  but  the  fact  that  the  fort  in  its  vicinity 
was  in  existence  in  1757  would  tend  to  disprove  this.  Bourgmont,  who  vis- 
ited the  Grand  village  in  1724,  makes  no  mention  of  this  one  near  Isle  au 
Vache,  which  he  certainly  would  have  done  had  it  been  there  at  the  time. 
The  trading-post  or  fort  was  probably  established  soon  after  his  visit,  as 
Fort  Orleans  was  destroyed  during  Bienville's  government,  which  ended  in 
1726,  and  the  interests  of  the  French  would  have  required  one  on  this  remote 
frontier  for  the  double  purpose  of  trade  and  as  a  guard  against  Spanish  in- 
vasion, which  had  been  attempted  only  a  few  years  before.  As  was  often 
the  case,  the  trading-post  and  fort  were  not  located  at  the  main  Indian  vil- 
lage, but  at  some  commanding  position  near  by.  The  post  once  established 
here,  the  Indians  who  came  to  trade  would  erect  a  village,  which,  although 
at  first  of  a  temporary  character,  would  finally  become  permanent. 

While  this  Fort  village  was  the  Frenchman's  headquarters,  a  military 
and  trading  center,  the  Indian  village,  located  within  a  mile,  was  doubtless 
tributary  to  the  Grand  village  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek,  the 
capital  of  the  tribe. 

At  these  early  French  forts  or  posts  like  Kanses.  the  officer  in  charge  was 
called  the  commandant.  There  was  a  garrison  or  strong-house  built  for  his 
use  and  quarters  for  the  soldiers.  Then  there  was  the  storehouse,  where 
the  trading  took  place  with  the  Indians.  Here  the  furs  and  peltries  were 
received  and  stored,  which  the  Indians  brought  and  exchanged  for  the  goods 
they  wanted,  such  as  powder,  lead,  beads,  bright-colored  cloth  arrow-points 
and  trinkets  of  various  kinds.  All  the  buildings  were  surrounded  by  a  line 
of  palisades,  and,  if  possible,  the  means  of  obtaining  water  were  within  or 
very  near  at  hand.  At  these  posts  there  was  usually  a  licensed  trader,  who 
had  bought  the  privilege  for  a  certain  price.  Some  traders  were  appointed 
by  the  governor-general  with  the  approbation  of  the  court.  It  is  needless  to 
state  that  the  privileges  went  to  the  favorites  of  the  appointing  power,  and 
the  practice  became  an  extensive  system  of  patronage.  Certain  posts  re- 
served the  fur  trade  for  the  benefit  of  the  king,  but  the  record  says  that 
the  traffic  at  these  posts  was  not  profitable  for  the  king,  who  always  lost 
money  in  this  way,  and  only  retained  them  to  preserve  an  alliance  with  the 
Indians;  the  storekeepers  and  the  commandant  knowing  how  to  enrich  them- 

Note  17.—  Thwaites'  Lewis  and  Clark,  vol.  7,  p.  15. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  17 

selves.  The  trading-post  at  Fort  Kanses  was  of  the  conge  or  license  char- 
acter, and  the  trader  was  some  favorite  of  the  governor-general  of  Canada. 
Whoever  he  was,  he  filled  the  first  civil  official  appointment,  and  with  his 
associates,  founded  the  first  permanent  white  settlement  in  what  is  now  the 
state  of  Kansas.18 

As  a  military  point,  this  post  and  fort  named  "Kanses"  must  have  been 
of  considerable  importance,  for  its  garrison  was  sent  from  New  Orleans,  and 
it  had  the  honor  of  having  a  commandant  in  charge  and  was  placed  on  the 
same  basis  as  Detroit,  Vincennnes,  Fort  Chartres  and  the  other  noted  French 
forts  of  that  day. 

This  name  "  Kanzas  "  or  "Kanses"  had  a  place  in  French  military,  com- 
mercial and  religious  circles  soon  after  Bourgmont's  visit  to  the  capital  of 
the  Kansa  nation  in  1724.  In  general  it  referred  to  the  region  where  the 
permanent  abodes  of  the  tribe  were  located,  to  wit,  the  Grand  village,  now 
known  to  be  the  present  site  of  Doniphan,  and  the  Fort  village,  some  twenty 
miles  down  the  river— a  little  below  Oak  Mills  and  Cow  island. 

Bourgmont,  in  his  account  of  his  visit,  fairly  well  described  the  Grand 
village,  and  the  sites  and  ruins  of  both  were  observed  by  Lewis  and  Clark 
when  they  passed  up  the  Missouri  in  1804,  and  they  have  often  been  men- 
tioned as  old  villages  of  the  Kansa  nation.  However,  I  do  not  think  Kansas 
historians  have  fully  realized  the  importance  of  the  latter  locality,  for  it 
was  evidently  the  first  permanent  white  settlement  in  Kansas— the  first 
center  of  activity  in  war  and  commerce  established  within  the  borders  of 
our  state. 

It- was  Kanses,  an  outpost  of  the  progressive  French,  and  one  of  their 
frontier  towns,  where  white  men  lived  in  houses  and  carried  on  business 
almost  200  years  ago.  Here  was  a  depot  for  all  the  commercial  supplies  of 
that  day,  the  merchandise  from  distant  France  and  the  valuable  skins  and 
furs  which  were  here  stored  for  sale  and  exchange.  It  seems  that  the  an- 
nual output  of  this  first  mart  of  trade  in  Kansas  was  100  bales  or  bundles  of 
furs.  When  we  realize  that  a  bundle  or  bale  of  furs  represented  100  otter 
skins,  100  wolf  skins,  or  100  badger  skins,  or  it  might  be  made  up  of  40  deer 
skins,  or  500  muskrat  or  mink  skins,  we  can  see  that  the  trade  at  Kanses 
was  considerable. 

It  was  Kanses,  an  important  French  military  post  and  fort,  with  its  strong 
garrison  of  brave  soldiers,  one  of  that  wonderful  chain  of  French  defenses 
established  from  Quebec  to  New  Orleans  and  along  the  Missouri  river.  It 
was  here  that  the  stirring  morning  drum-beat  and  the  solemn  echo  of  the 
evening  gun  marked  the  first  permanent  establishment  of  white  man's  au- 
thority, protection  and  enterprise  within  the  borders  of  our  state. 

No  one  knows  just  when  the  Kansa  established  the  Grand  village,  or  the 
Fort  village.  The  former  was  an  old  place  in  1724.  One  of  these  sites 
doubtless  was  occupied  by  the  tribe  when  Marquette  marked  the  Kansa  to 
the  northwest  of  the  Osages,  in  his  map  of  1673.  Other  maps  of  that  pe- 
riod, like  Franquelin's  Map  of  Louisiana,  1679,  show  the  Cansa  on  the  Mis- 
souri above  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  river.  More  than  likely  this  locality 
was  a  stronghold  of  the  tribe  in  1602,  when  the  Spanish  explorer  Onate  met 
the  Escansaques  on  the  plains  and  punished  them  for  harrassing  the  Qui- 
virans. 

Note  18.— Bougainville  on  French  Posts,  1757,  in  Boundaries  of  the  Province  of  Ontario,  1878. 
pp.  81-85. 


18  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

One  of  the  great  battles  in  which  the  Kansa  were  defeated  by  the  allied 
forces  of  the  Iowa,  Sac  and  Fox  tribes  took  place,  according  to  Mr.  Geo.  J. 
Remsburg,  near  the  present  site  of  Oak  Mills,  in  Atchison  county.  Vast 
quantities  of  Indian  bones  and  implements  of  war  have  been  found  on  this 
famous  old  battle-ground.  It  was  this  and  many  other  conflicts  that  deci- 
mated this  tribe  and  made  them  retire  to  the  interior. 

VILLAGES  ON  THE  KANSAS  RIVER. 

It  will  never  be  exactly  known  when  the  Kansa  Indians  first  lived  on  the 
river  which  bears  their  name.  Their  villages  along  that  stream  were  occu- 
pied at  different  times,  and  their  sites  are  found  from  its  junction  with  the 
Missouri  to  as  far  west  as  the  mouth  of  the  Blue  river.  One  of  them  at 
least  is  prehistoric,  and  can  only  be  pointed  out  by  archeologists,  while  the 
others  were  occupied  by  the  tribe  since  its  movements  were  known  to  the 
historian. 

The  Kansa  were  one  branch  of  the  up  stream  people,  and  when,  probably 
about  1500,  they  separated  from  the  Omaha,  Ponka  and  Osage,  with  whom 
they  had  come  from  the  East,  they  took  possession  of  the  valley  of  the 
Kansas  river,  and  became  a  distinct  Indian  nation. 

Probably  their  most  ancient  village  site  in  Kansas  is  that  found  in  Wy- 
andotte county,  a  little  east  of  White  Church,  on  the  old  William  Malotte 
farm.  The  many  relics  recovered  there  by  the  late  Geo.  U.  S.  Hovey,  and 
the  extensive  outlines  of  this  village,  prove  it  to  have  long  been  an  impor- 
tant center,  and  it  was  probably  while  living  here  that  the  stream  received 
from  this  people  its  name  of  Kansas. 

A  full  history  of  this  once  great  Indian  nation,  in  its  original  conquest 
for  the  mastery  of  the  Kansas  river  and  its  tributaries,  its  hundreds  of 
years  of  occupancy,  with  all  the  thrilling  incidents  of  victory  and  defeat, 
legends  and  lore,  and  then  the  final  decadence  of  the  nation  and  the  cruel  and 
unfair  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  which  at  last  led  to  its 
complete  abandonment  of  the  Kansas  valley,  would  make  a  thrilling  and  in- 
teresting chapter  in  the  annals  of  American  Indian  life. 

What  point  upon  the  Kansas  river  was  first  occupied  by  the  Kansa? 
Where  did  they  establish  their  first  village  upon  this  stream  at  the  time  they 
began  to  draw  away  from  the  Missouri?  This  question  is  partially  answered 
by  Lewis  and  Clark  in  the  following  quotations,  though  in  a  contradictory 
manner: 

"This  river  [Kansas]  receives  its  name  from  a  nation  which  dwells  at 
this  time  on  its  banks,  and  has  two  villages,  one  about  twenty  leagues,  and 
the  other  forty  leagues  up.  Those  Indians  are  not  very  numerous  at  this 
time,  reduced  by  war  with  their  neighbors.  They  formerly  lived  on  the 
south  banks  of  the  Missouri,  twenty-four  leagues  above  this  river  [the  Kan- 
sas] in  an  open  and  beautiful  plain  and  were  very  numerous  at  the  time  the 
French  first  settled  the  Illinois.  I  am  told  they  are  a  fierce  and  warlike 
people,  being  badly  supplied  with  firearms,  became  easily  conquered  by  the 
Iowas  and  Sacs,  who  are  better  furnished  with  those  materials  of  war. 
This  nation  is  now  out  on  the  plains  hunting  the  buffalo.  They  consist  of 
about  300  men."19 

Their  information  was  secured  largely  from  the  trappers  and  boatmen 
who  accompanied  them,  and  was  of  necessity  inaccurate.  The  first  extract 
would  imply  that  the  eastern  village  was  still  occupied  in  1804,  while  the  more 

Note  19.— Thwaites'  Lewis  and  Clark,  vol.  1,  page  60. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians. 


19 


exact  table  speaks  of  the  same  village  as  "the  old  Kanzas  village,"  and  in 
the  case  of  the  western  village  identifies  it  as  "present  village  of  the  Kan- 
zas," at  the  mouth  of  the  Blue.  We  are  thus  led  to  infer  that  the  "old 
Kanzas  village,"  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  Kansas,  between  Heart 
creek  (Soldier)  and  Black  Paint  (Red  Vermillion),  was  their  first  Kansas 
river  village  after  1724,  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  Blue  village.  It  is  singu- 
lar that  the  site  should  not  have  been  identified  by  our  early  settlers.  It 
was  possibly  near  or  on  the  site  of  that  of  Fool  Chief,  in  1830,  near  Menoken. 


Names  of  Creeks,  Rivers,  and  Remarkable  Places. 


The  three  rivers  near  each  other  and  about  the  same  size 

The  stranger's  wife  river 

Bealette's  creek 

Wor-rah-ru-za  river. 

Grasshopper  creek 

Heart  river 

The  old  Kanzas  village 

Full  river 

Black  paint  river 

Blue  water  river  and  the  present  village  of  the  Kanzas  just  below. 

Me-war-ton-nen-gar  creek 

War-ho-ba  creek. 

Republican  river 

Solomon's  creek 

Little  salt  creek 


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22 

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40 

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25 

N. 

10 

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30 

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N. 

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s. 

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38 

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80 

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N. 

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30 

N. 

10 

125 

30 

N. 

VILLAGE  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  SALINE  RIVER. 

According  to  the  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology, 
the  Kansa  had  an  ancient  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saline,  and  the  first 
treaty  made  with  them  by  the  United  States,  soon  after  the  Louisiana  pur- 
chase, 1803,  was  at  this  village,  they  having  been  forced  back  from  the 
Missouri  river  by  the  Dakotas.  The  writer,  Dr.  W.  J.  McGee,  says  that  at 
this  time  they  numbered  1500,  and  occupied  thirty  earth  lodges.  His  au- 
thority for  this  statement  I  have  not  yet  found. 

The  first  formal  recorded  treaty  between  the  tribe  and  the  United  States 
was  that  of  1815,  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship,  of  forgiveness  on  our 
part  for  their  leaning  towards  the  British  in  the  war  of  1812.  At  that  time 
their  capital  village  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Blue  Earth  river.  This  is 
usually  known  as  the  first  treaty  with  the  tribe.  However,  the  first  act  of 
treating  with  them  so  far  found  was  when  Pike,  on  the  28th  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1806,  in  his  camp  near  the  Pawnee  Republic  village,  held  a  council  with 
representatives  of  the  tribe,  and  with  them  and  some  Osages  smoked  the 
pipe  of  peace.  It  seems  impossible  that  they  should  have  had  at  this  time 
a  village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saline,  for  Pike,  in  spite  of  the  cowardice  of 
the  Osage,  would  certainly  have  visited  it  on  his  route  to  the  Pawnees, 
which  ran  northward  through  Saline  county.  A  village  of  thirty  earth  lodges 
would  have  left  an  impression  not  easily  effaced  by  the  plow,  and  it  is  strange 


NOTE  20.— Thwaites'  Lewis  and  Clark,  vol.  6,  p.  36. 


2u  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

that  the  exact  location  of  it  has  never  been  reported,  letters  of  inquiry  re- 
ceiving no  answer. 

The  description  of  the  village  is  so  like  the  permanent  capital  of  the  tribe 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Blue  river  that  possibly  some  of  those  early  writers 
overestimated  its  distance  up  the  river.  The  village  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Saline,  if  it  existed  at  all,  was  probably  only  of  a  temporary  character  dur- 
ing hunting  seasons,  a  tributary  village  to  the  main  town  at  the  Blue,  where 
they  were  visited  in  1819  by  the  Long  expedition.  In  some  memoranda  of 
the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition,  in  disconnected  notes,  occurs  the  statement: 
"Their  village  is  80  leagues  up  the  Kanzes  river.  They  hunt  high  up  the 
Kanzes  and  Arkansaws. "  This  would  seem  to  name  a  spot  as  far  up  as  the 
Saline.  De  'Lisle's  map  of  1718  shows  the  "Grande  Riv.  des  Cansez  "  with 
two  large  tributaries  from  the  far  northwest,  and  a  "Cansez"  village  at 
the  mouth  of  the  second  one,  far  enough  to  the  west  to  be  the  Saline. 
Jedidiah  Morse,  in  his  "Report  on  Indian  Affairs,"  1822,  places  the  Kanzas 
village  in  his  text  at  the  mouth  of  the  Grand  Saline,  though  his  map  shows 
it  to  be  at  the  mouth  of  the  [Blue]  Earth  river. 

VILLAGE  NEAR  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  BLUE.* 
A  prominent  capital  of  the  Kansa  nation,  the  exact  site  of  which  is  well 
known,  was  the  large  village  just  two  miles  east  of  the  present  city  of  Man- 
hattan, on  the  bank  of  the  Kansas  river.  Its  location  is  on  sections  9  and 
10,  township  10,  range  8  east,  where  the  river  touches  those  sections,  the  line 
between  them  passing  through  its  midst.  When  the  tribe  established  this 
as  their  capital  is  not  exactly  known,  but  it  was  probably  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

When  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition  passed  up  the  Missouri,  in  1804, 
they  saw  only  the  ruins  of  the  old  Kansa  villages.  At  this  time  they  stated 
that  the  Kansa  villages  on  the  Kansas  river  "are  two  in  number,  one  about 
twenty  and  the  other  about  forty  leagues  up  from  its  mouth."  One  of 
these  must  have  been  close  to  the  present  site  of  Topeka,  and  the  other 
was  this  one  at  the  Blue,  where  a  part  of  Major  Long's  expedition  found  it 
in  1819.    This  was  their  capital  until  about  1830,  and  its  120  lodges  just  back 

*THE  HOME  OF  THE  KANSA  INDIANS,  FROM  OLD  MAPS,  1672-1819. 

The  earliest  map  pointing  out  the  location  of  the  Kansa  nation  was  that  of  Marquette,  1673, 
and  described  locations  as  found  by  that  intrepid  missionary  explorer  and  his  companion,  Joliet. 
A  copy  of  this  map  will  be  found  in  this  volume  opposite  page  80.  On  it  the  Kansa  are  placed 
west  of  the  Osages  and  southeast  of  the  Panis.  Marquette  did  not  visit  them,  nor  any  tribe  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  but  had  information  from  well-informed  Indians  who  stood  by  while  he  made 
the  map.  At  this  time  the  Kansa  were  probably  on  the  Missouri  river  in  about  the  location 
where  visited  by  Bourgmont  fifty  years  later. 

Parkman's  map  No.  5,  in  Harvard  College  library,  "La  Manitoumie,  1672-'73,"  shows  the 
Kanissi  south  of  the  Missouri  river  and  between  the  8missouri  and  the  Paniassa.  (  Winsor's  Nar- 
rative History  of  America,  vol.  4,  p.  221.) 

Joliet's  map,  1674,  shows  the  Kansa  southeast  of  the  Osages  and  Pani.  (Thwaites'  Jesuit 
Relations,  vol.  59,  p.  86.) 

Franquelin's  map  of  Louisiana,  1679-1682,  shows  the  Cansa  on  the  Emissourittes  river  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Kansa  river.     (Margry,  vol.  3  ;  Thwaites'  Jesuit  Relations,  vol.  63,  p.  1.) 

Thevenot's  map  of  Louisiana,  1681,  locates  the  Kemissi  south  of  the  Missouri  and  northwest 
of  the  Autre  Chaha  (Osage)  and  toward  the  Panissi. 

De  'Lisle's  map  of  Louisiana,  1718,  shows  the  Grande  Rivere  des  Cansez  and  a  village  far  out 
on  that  stream  at  the  mouth  of  the  second  large  tributary  from  the  northwest,  near  the  country 
of  the  Padoucas.  It  also  shows  a  village  of  Les  Cansez  on  the  Missouri  river,  south  side,  near  the 
mouth  of  a  creek  (Independence).     (In  French's  Louisiana,  part  2.) 

D'Anville's  map  of  Louisiana,  1732,  locates  the  Kansez  village  at  the  mouth  of  Petite  river 
des  Kansez.  This  was  the  Grand  village  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek.  This  map  also 
shows  the  River  des  Padoucas  et  Kansez  and  a  village  of  the  Paniouassas  on  a  northern  branch. 
(Photo  map.) 

Bellin's  map  of  Louisiana,  1744,  marks  the  Pays  des  Canses  (country  of  the  Kansa)  extend- 
ing from  the  Missouri  river  almost  to  the  mountains,  being  quite  a  part  of  the  present  states  of 
Missouri,  Kansas  and  southern  Nebraska.     The  Canses  village  is  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  sec- 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  21 

from  the  river,  as  reported  by  Professor  Say,  made  an  imposing  appearance. 
Mr.  Henry  Stack  pole's  survey  in  1880  represents  160  or  more  lodge  sites  of 
from  ten  to  fifty  feet  in  diameter. 

Some  time  after  the  treaty  of  1825,  when  the  Kansa  surrendered  their 
claim  to  a  large  part  of  Kansas,  they  began  to  retrace  their  steps  toward 
the  east,  and  by  1830  had  established  themselves  at  villages  near  the  mouth 
of  Mission  creek,  west  of  the  city  of  Topeka,  and  at  other  places,  and  this 
Blue  Earth  village  was  abandoned.  A  very  full  account  of  this  village,  as 
told  in  1819  by  Mr.  Thomas  Say,  of  the  Long  expedition,  with  an  illustra- 
tion and  map,  will  be  found  in  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  volumes  1  and 
2,  page  286. 

VILLAGE  EAST  OF  TOPEKA,  THE  FIRST  OFFICIAL  AGENCY. 

By  the  treaty  of  June  3, 1825,  the  Kanza  nation  bartered  away  their  imperial 
patrimony —almost  one- half  of  the  state  of  Kansas— for  a  mess  of  pottage.  For 
this  they  received  $4000  in  merchandise  and  horses,  an  annual  tribal  annuity 
of  $3500  for  twenty  years,  and  a  limited  reservation  along  the  Kansas  river. 
They  also  received  some  cattle,  hogs  and  chickens,  and  some  half-breed  al- 
lotments. The  eastern  boundary  of  their  reduced  country  was  sixty  miles 
west  of  the  Missouri  state  line,  or  what  is  now  the  western  boundary  of  Sol- 
dier township,  in  Shawnee  county.  Twenty-three  half-breed  Kansas 
children  were  each  given  a  section  of  land  fronting  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Kansas  river.  The  first  of  these  allotments  was  made  next  east  of  Soldier 
township,  and  the  twenty-third  allotment,  that  of  Joseph  James,  was  down 
the  river  near  the  present  Union  Pacific  station  of  Williamstown,  Jefferson 
county.  Here  quite  a  settlement  sprang  up  in  1827,  composed  of  the  agency 
officers  and  families,  half-breed  families  and  some  Indians.21  This  treaty  of 
1825  provided  for  a  blacksmith  and  farmer  for  the  tribe.  These  officials  lo- 
cated on  what  was  thought  to  be  the  most  eastern  half-breed  allotment,  but 

ond  large  tributary  of  the  Kansas  river  from  its  junction  with  the  Missouri.  It  shows  also  the 
Petite  river  des  Canses  (the  Little  River  of  the  Kansa).  (Shea's  Charlevoix  History  of  New 
France,  vol.  6,  p.  11.) 

Sieur  le  Rouge's  map,  1746,  shows  River  des  Canses  correctly,  and  the  Canses  village  on  the 
Kansas  river,  quite  a  way  from  its  mouth. 

Vaugondy's  map  of  North  America,  1798,  gives  Les  Canses  on  their  river,  and  gives  the  Pays 
des  Canses  as  extensive  as  that  of  other  great  Indian  nations,  or  from  the  mountains  to  the  Mis- 
souri river,  over  most  of  the  present  state  of  Kansas.     (Winsor's  Miss.  Basin,  p.  205.) 

Le  Page  Du  Pratz's  map  of  Louisiana,  1757,  with  course  of  the  Mississippi  and  tributaries, 
shows  the  river  of  the  Cansez  with  the  location  of  a  Cansez  village  up  that  stream  about  sixty  or 
seventy  miles.  It  also  shows  the  Grand  village  Cansez  on  the  Missouri  river  quite  a  distance 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Cansez  river.  This  shows  that  they  were  again  living  on  both  streams, 
with  permanent  villages,  as  shown  by  De  'Lisle's  map  of  1718.     (Photo  map.) 

Dunn's  map,  1774,  Source  of  Mississippi  river,  shows  Kanzez  at  mouth  of  a  tributary  to  the 
Missouri  river.  This  was  doubtless  the  old  Grand  village  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek. 
This  copy  of  Dunn's  map  does  not  show  the  whole  course  of  the  Kansas  river,  omitting  a  village 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Blue,  and  would  indicate  that  as  late  as  1774  they  were  still  occupying  the 
above-described  Grand  village.     (Winsor's  Westward  Movement,  page  214.) 

Carver's  map  of  North  America,  1778,  shows  Kansez  on  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri,  north- 
west of  the  Osages.  This  is  about  the  last  map  showing  them  lingering  by  the  Missouri  river. 
After  this  they  seem  to  have  entirely  established  themselves  on  their  own  old  river,  the  Kansas. 
(Winsor's  Westward  Movement,  page  104.) 

French  map  of  date  prior  to  1800,  used  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  1804,  marks  the  junction  of  Kan- 
ces  river,  upon  which  the  Kansa  nation  lived  at  that  time.  (Map  No.  1,  Thwaite's  Lewis  and 
Clark.) 

Spanish  map  of  about  1800,  used  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  Map  No.  2,  shows  Kansez  river  with  a 
village  of  Kansez  Indians  on  its  north  bank  east  of  the  junction  with  the  Blue. 

Pike's  map,  1806,  gives  Kanses  on  the  river  of  that  name,     i  Coues'  edition.) 

Long's  map  of  the  West,  1819,  shows  Konzas  village  at  the  mouth  of  Blue  Earth  river,  near 
the  bank  of  the  Konzas  river.  It  also  shows  the  site  of  the  Old  Konzas  village  on  the  Missouri 
river  at  the  mouth  of  Independence  creek,  which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  nation  many  years 
before. 

Note  21.— For  some  interesting  incidents  connected  with  this  village,  see  Kansas  Historical 
Collections,  vol.  9,  p.  195. 


22  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

it  seems  that  a  mistake  was  made,  and  they  really  settled  over  the  line  on 
land  reserved  to  the  Delaware  Indians  by  their  supplemental  treaty  of  Sep- 
tember 24,  1829. 

This  village  had  become  quite  a  settlement  by  1830,  and  among  the  In- 
dians who  lived  near  the  agency  was  that  famous  old  Kansa  chief,  Wom- 
pa-wa-ra  (he  who  scares  all  men),  whose  other  name  was  "Plume  Blanche," 
or  "White  Plume." 

"The  present  chief  of  this  tribe  [1832-'33]  is  known  by  the  name  of  the 
'White  Plume' ;  a  very  urbane  and  hospitable  man  of  good  portly  size, 
speaking  some  English,  and  making  himself  good  company  for  all  white  per- 
sons who  travel  through  his  country  and  have  the  good  luck  to  shake  his 
liberal  and  hospitable  hand."  (Catlin's  Illustrations  of  North  American  In- 
dians, 1876,  vol.  2,  page  23.) 

The  government  had  built  for  this  dignitary  a  substantial  stone  house, 
but  for  some  reason  he  refused  to  abide  in  it,  preferring  his  old  style  wigwam 
lodge,  which  he  usually  erected  in  the  dooryard  of  this  official  palace.  The 
floors  and  woodwork  of  this  building  were  destroyed,  and  White  Plume  once 
gave  as  an  excuse  for  not  using  the  house,  "Too  much  fleas." 

When  Rev.  William  Johnson  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to  the  tribe,  in 
1830,  his  first  two  years  of  work  seem  to  have  been  at  this  place,  prior  to 
his  brief  mission  to  the  Delawares. 

The  trading-post  of  Frederick  Chouteau  was  across  the  river,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Lake  View.  Daniel  Morgan  Boone,  a  son  of  the  Kentucky 
pioneer,  lived  at  the  settlement  as  government  farmer  to  the  tribe.  In  1830 
Frederick  Chouteau  moved  his  trading-post  up  to  the  Mission  creek  villages, 
and  in  1835  Major  Boone  went  there  also  and  opened  up  two  farms.  By 
this  time  the  Jefferson  county  village  was  abandoned  and  the  interest  of 
the  tribe  centered  around  the  Mission  creek  villages. 

Marston  G.  Clark  was  the  government  agent  to  the  tribe  most  of  the 
time  that  this  village  was  the  official  agency.  Irving  describes  him  as  "a 
tall,  thin,  soldier-like,  man,  arrayed  in  a  hunting  shirt  and  an  old  fox-skin 
cap." 

Mr.  W.  W.  Cone,  in  the  Capital  of  August  27,  1879,  gives  a  good  de- 
scription of  White  Plume's  house,  and  the  exact  location  of  this  village,  the 
old  house  being  about  fifty  yards  north  of  the  present  Union  Pacific  depot 
at  the  Williamstown  or  Rural  station,  Jefferson  county. 

MISSION  CREEK  VILLAGES,  SHAWNEE  COUNTY. 

From  1830  to  1846  there  were  two  Kansa  villages  near  the  mouth  of  Mis- 
sion creek,  in  the  western  part  of  Shawnee  county.  American  Chief  had 
his  village  of  some  twenty  lodges  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  about  two 
miles  from  the  Kansas  river.     This  chief  had  about  100  followers. 

The  village  of  Hard  Chief,  whose  Indian  name  was  Kah-he-ga-wah-che-hah, 
was  about  two  miles  from  the  village  of  American  Chief,  and  nearer  the 
river.  This  chief  had  at  that  time  500  or  600  followers.  This  village  num- 
bered nearly  100  lodges,  and  was  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  Kansas  river,  a 
mile  and  half  west  of  the  mouth  of  Mission  creek,  and  has  been  located  on 
the  northeast  quarter  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  28,  township  11, 
range  14  east.  This  village  deserves  special  mention,  for  it  was  here  that 
Rev.  William  Johnson  and  wife  labored  as  missionaries  to  this  tribe  for  seven 
years.     They  came  in  1835,  and  erected  the  mission  buildings  on  the  north- 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians. 


23 


1  2 

Famous  Kaw  Chiefs.— 1.   Al-le-g-a-wa-ho ;  2.    Kah-he-ga-wa-ti-an-gah,  known  as  the  Fool 
Chief;  3.   Wah-ti-an-gah. 


24  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

west  corner  of  section  33,  township  11,  range  14  east.  It  seems  that  Rev. 
William  Johnson  had  a  wide  influence  with  this  tribe,  and  his  death,  in  1842, 
was  a  great  loss,  for  the  tribe  never  afterwards  seemed  to  respond  to  the 
meager  missionary  efforts  attempted.   . 

In  1845  Rev.  J.  T.  Peery,  who  had  married  Mrs.  Johnson,  was  sent  to 
this  place  to!  establish  a  manual-labor  school  After  a  year's  trial,  it  seem- 
ing to  be  a  failure,  the  school  was  discontinued.  Only  a  few  children  ever 
attended  the  school  kept  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Johnson  at  the  mission,  unless  it 
was  a  deputation  of  children  taken  by  Reverend  Johnson  to  the  Shawnee 
manual-labor  school  just  before  his  death. 

This  seemed  to  end  the  missionary  work  with  this  tribe  for  many  years, 
except  that  of  a  scholastic  character.  In  fact,  the  seven  or  eight  years' 
mission  work  of  Reverend  and  Mrs.  Johnson  and  Reverend  Peery  was  the 
sum  total  of  the  resident  religious  effort  among  this  tribe  for  a  space  of 
three-quarters  of  a  century.  Much  of  the  missionaries'  time  was  spent  in 
acquiring  the  language,  and  it  was  an  irreparable  loss  that,  just  as  the 
Johnsons  had  become  proficient  both  in  the  language  and  manners  of  the 
tribe,  they  were  taken  away,  and  no  very  extensive  efforts  were  ever  after- 
wards made  to  send  resident  religious  teachers  among  them. 

It  was  while  Reverend  Johnson  was  with  the  tribe  that  a  book  was 
printed  in  the  Kansa  language.  No  copy  seems  to  have  been  preserved. 
Reverend  Johnson  does  not  mention  it  in  any  writings  he  has  left,  and  I 
have  found  but  little  authority  from  old  Indians  or  those  who  lived  with  the 
tribe  regarding  this  alleged  book.  See  more  extended  mention  of  this  book 
under  "Missionary  Efforts  with  the  Kansa,"  this  article. 

By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1846,  the  tribe  gave  up  their  right  to  their 
lands  on  the  Kansas  river  and  were  assigned  a  reservation  twenty  miles 
square  in  the  Neosho  valley,  near  Council  Grove,  to  which  they  moved  in 
the  spring  of  1847.  This  was  the  most  disastrous  step  ever  taken  by  the 
tribe,  and  really  proved  its  complete  undoing  as  an  Indian  nation  of  much 
importance.  The  old  Mission  creek  buildings  in  Shawnee  county  were  occu- 
pied for  a  time  by  Joseph  Bourassa,  an  educated  half-breed  Pottawatomie, 
who  had  a  Kansa  wife.  In  1853  he  tore  them  down  and  moved  the  logs 
about  one  mile  north,  where  they  were  used  to  build  another  residence. 

For  an  account  of  this  Mission  creek  village  and  the  work  of  Revs.  Wil- 
liam Johnson  and  J.  T.  Peery,  see  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  volumes  1 
and  2,  page  276;   also  volume  9,  page  195. 

"FOOL  CHIEF'S  VILLAGE"  1830-1846. 

WEST  OF  NORTH  TOPEKA. 

An  important  village,  and  the  largest  of  the  tribe  at  that  time,  was  that 
of  old  Kah-he-gah-wa-ti-an-gah,  known  as  Fool  Chief,  which  from  about 
1830  to  1846  was  located  on  the  north  side  of  the  Kansas  river,  just  north  of 
the  present  Union  Pacific  station  of  Menoken.22  This  was  the  largest  In- 
dian village  of  importance  near  the  present  city  of  Topeka,  and  was  about 
six  miles  west  of  the  mouth  of  Soldier  creek,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  16,  township  11,  Vange  15  east.  Until  recent  years  the  lodge-circle 
marks  were  visible  and  its  exact  location  easy  to  be  found.  Recently  visit- 
ing this  spot,  it  was  easy  to  see  the  wisdom  of  the  Indians  in  selecting  this 
place  for  a  village  site.     During  the  great  flood  of  1903,  when  North  Topeka 

Note  22.— Kansas  Historical  Collections,  vol.  8,  p.  483. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians. 


25 


Kanza  village  of  Fool  Chief,  1841.  near  Menokin,  Shawnee  county.— From  Father  P.  J. 
De  Smet's  Letters  and  Sketches,  Philadelphia,  1843. 


and  almost  all  of  the  valley  was  submerged,  the  station  of  Menoken  and 
quite  a  spot  surrounding  was  high  and  dry  as  an  island.  During  the  great 
flood  of  1844,  which  was  of  longer  duration,  and,  from  some  accounts,  even 
higher  than  that  of  1903,  this  village  was  an  island  of  safety,  to  and  from 
which  the  Kansa  plied  their  canoes  over  the  waste  of  waters. 

Old  Fool  Chief  ruled  here  till  about  the  time  the  tribe  was  moved  to 
Council  Grove.  He  was  the  hereditary  chief,  and  for  a  long  time  head  chief. 
When  sober  he  was  peaceable,  but  always  felt  his  authority,  and  coveted 
the  attention  of  younger  braves,  who  brought  him  choice  portions  of  game. 
The  Methodists,  who  had  a  mission  near  the  mouth  of  Mission  creek  near 
the  other  two  villages  of  the  tribe,  once  took  him  to  the  general  conference 
at  Baltimore,  where  he  embarrassed  them  by  appearing,  as  was  customary 
at  home,  stark  naked  on  the  streets  one  hot,  sultry  morning.  Afterward  he 
fell  still  further  from  grace,  and  when  under  the  influence  of  drink  always 
became  crazy.  In  one  of  these  spells,  while  on  his  way  over  to  Missouri 
with  a  band  of  warriors,  he  was  killed  by  one  of  his  own  braves,  Wa-ho- 
ba-ke,  whose  life  he  was  attempting  to  take. 

Father  De  Smet,  on  his  great  missionary  tour  across  the  continent,  visited 
this  village  in  May,  1841,  and  was  received  with  much  favor  and  formality. 
Two  of  the  relatives  of  the  grand  chief  came  twenty  miles  to  meet  him,  and 
helped  the  missionary  cross  the  Kansas  river  near  the  mouth  of  Soldier  creek, 
just  below  the  present  city  of  Topeka.  Near  this  spot  Father  De  Smet 
camped  and  was  visited  by  the  head  chief  and  six  of  his  council  warriors. 
A  council  of  friendship  was  held,  the  chief  showed  his  credentials,  and  they 
all  smoked  the  calumet.  A  guard  was  furnished  for  the  use  of  the  mission- 
ary during  his  visit. 

Father  De  Smet,  in  speaking  of  the  appearance  of  the  village  upon  ap- 
proaching it,  says  : 

"At  the  first  sight  of  their  wigwams  we  were  struck  at  the  resemblance 
they  bore  to  the  large  stacks  of  wheat  which  cover  our  fields  in  harvest- 
time.  There  were  of  these  in  all  no  more  than  about  twenty,  grouped 
together  without  order,  but  each  covering  a  space  of  about  120  feet  in  cir- 
cumference, and  sufficient  to  shelter  from  30  to  40  persons.     The  entire 


26  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 


Interior  of  a  Kanza  lodge,  1841,  near  Menokin,  Shawnee  county.— From  Father  P.  J. 
De  Smet's  Letters  and  Sketches,  Philadelphia,  1843. 

village  appeared  to  us  to  consist  of  from  700  to  800  souls.  .  .  .  These 
cabins,  however  humble  they  may  appear,  are  solidly  built  and  convenient. 
From  the  top  of  the  wall,  which  is  about  six  feet  in  height,  rise  inclined 
poles,  which  terminate  round  an  opening  above,  serving  at  once  for  chimney 
and  window.  The  door  of  the  edifice  consists  of  an  undressed  hide  on  the 
most  sheltered  side;  the  hearth  occupies  the  center,  and  is  in  the  midst  of 
four  upright  posts  destined  to  support  the  rotunda ;  the  beds  are  ranged 
round  the  wall,  and  the  space  between  the  beds  and  the  hearth  is  occupied 
by  members  of  trie  family,  some  standing,  others  sitting  or  lying  on  skins 
or  yellow-colored  mats." 

Continuing,  Father  De  Smet  gives  the  following  interesting  description 
of  the  Indians  of  this  capital  of  the  tribe  at  that  time : 

"It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  all  the  curiosities  we  beheld  during  the 
hour  we  passed  among  these  truly  strange  beings  ;  a  Teniers  would  have 
envied  us.  What  most  excited  our  attention  was  the  peculiar  physiognomy 
of  the  greater  number  of  these  personages,  their  vivacity  of  expression, 
singular  costumes,  diversity  of  amusement,  and  fantastic  attitudes  and  ges- 
tures. 

"The  women  alone  were  occupied,  and  in  order  to  attend  to  their  various 
duties  with  less  distraction  they  had  placed  those  of  their  papooses  who 
were  unable  to  walk  on  beds  or  on  the  floor,  or  at  their  feet,  ea(  h  tightly 
swathed  and  fastened  to  a  board,  to  preserve  it  from  being  injured  by  sur- 
rounding objects.  .  .  .  How  were  the  men  occupied?  When  we  entered, 
some  were  preparing  to  eat,  this  is  their  great  occupation  when  not  asleep, 
others  were  smoking,  discharging  the  fumes  of  the  tobacco  by  their  mouths 
and  nostrils,  reminding  one  of  the  funnels  of  a  steamboat;  they  talked,  they 
plucked  out  their  beard  and  the  hair  of  their  eye-brows,  they  made  their 
toilette;  the  head  receiving  particular  attention. 

"Contrary  to  the  custom  of  other  tribes,  who  let  the  hair  on  their  heads 
grow  (one  of  the  Crows  has  hair  eleven  feet  long),  the  Kanzas  shave  theirs, 
with  the  exception  of  a  well-curled  turf  on  the  crown,  destined  to  be  wreathed 
with  the  warrior's  plume  of  eagle's  feathers,  the  proudest  ornament  with 
which  the  human  head  can  be  adorned.23    .     .     . 

Note  23.— "The  custom  of  shaving  the  head,  and  ornamenting  it  with  the  crest  of  deer's 
hair,  belongs  to  this  tribe ;  also  to  the  Osages,  the  Pawnees,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  and  Ioways,  and 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  27 

"I  could  not  help  watching  the  motions  of  a  young  savage,  a  sort  of 
dandy,  who  ceased  not  to  arrange,  over  and  over  again,  his  bunch  of  feath- 
ers before  a  looking-glass,  apparently  unable  to  give  it  the  graceful  finish 
he  intended— Father  Point,  having  suffered  his  beard  to  grow,  soon  became 
an  object  of  curiosity  and  laughter  to  the  children— a  beardless  chin  and  well- 
picked  eyebrows  and  lashes  being,  among  them,  indispensable  to  beauty. 
Next  come  the  plume  and  slit-ears,  with  their  pendants  of  beads  and  other 
trinkets.  This  is  but  a  part  of  their  finery,  .  .  .  and  but  a  faint  speci- 
men of  their  vanity.  Do  you  wish  to  have  an  idea  of  a  Kanza  satisfied  with 
himself  in  the  highest  degree?  Picture  him  to  yourself  with  rings  of  ver- 
milion encircling  his  eyes,  with  white,  black  or  red  streaks  running  down 
his  face,  a  fantastic  necklace,  adorned  in  the  center  with  a  large  medal  of 
silver  or  copper  dangling  on  his  breast;  bracelets  of  tin,  copper  or  brass  on 
his  arms  and  wrists;  a  cincture  of  white  around  his  waist,  a  cutlass  and 
scabbard;  embroidered  shoes  or  moccasins  on  his  feet;  and,  to  crown  all,  a 
mantle,  .  .  .  thrown  over  the  shoulders  and  falling  around  the  body  in 
such  folds  or  drapery  as  the  wants  or  caprice  of  the  wearer  may  direct,  and 
the  individual  stands  before  you  as  he  exhibited  himself  to  us. 

"In  stature,  they  are  generally  tall  and  well  made.  Their  physiognomy 
is  manly,  their  language  is  guttural,  and  remarkable  for  the  length  and  strong 
accentation  of  the  final  syllables.  Their  style  of  singing  is  monotonous, 
whence  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  enchanting  music  heard  on  the  rivers  of 
Paraguay  never  cheers  the  voyageur  on  the  otherwise  beautiful  streams  of 
the  country  of  the  Kanzas. 

"With  regard  to  the  qualities  which  distinguish  man  from  the  brute, 
they  are  far  from  being  deficient.  To  bodily  strength  and  courage  they 
unite  a  shrewdness  and  address  superior  to  other  savages,  and  in  their  wars 
and  on  the  chase  they  make  a  dextrous  use  of  firearms,  which  gives  them  a 
decided  advantage  over  their  enemies." 

In  another  place,  in  speaking  of  the  valor  of  the  Kansa  Indians,  Father 
De  Smet  bears  this  testimony: 

"The  Pawnees  are  divided  into  four  tribes,  scattered  over  the  fertile 
borders  of  the  Platte  river.  Though  six  times  more  numerous  than  the 
Kanzas,  they  have  almost  on  every  occasion  been  conquered  by  the  latter, 
because  they  are  far  inferior  to  them  in  the  use  of  firearms,  and  in  strength 
and  courage." 

Father  De  Smet  closes  his  interesting  account  as  follows: 

"However  cruel  they  may  be  to  their  foes,  the  Kanzas  are  no  strangers 
to  the  tenderest  sentiments  of  piety,  friendship  and  compassion.  They  are 
often  inconsolable  for  the  death  of  relations,  and  leave  nothing  undone  to 
give  proof  of  their  sorrow.  Then  only  do  they  suffer  their  hair  to  grow- 
long  hair  being  the  sign  of  long  mourning.  The  principal  chief  apologized 
for  the  length  of  his  hair,  informing  us  .  .  .  that  he  had  lost  his  son. 
I  wish  that  I  could  represent  .  .  .  the  countenances  of  three  others 
when  they  visited  our  little  chapel  for  the  first  time.  When  we  snowed 
them  an  Ecce  Homo  and  a  statute  of  our  Lady  of  the  seven  Dolours,  and  the 
interpreter  explained  to  them,  that  that  head  crowned  with  thorns,  and  that 
countenance  defiled  with  insults,  were  the  true  and  real  image  of  God,  who 
had  died  for  the  love  of  us,  and  that  the  heart  they  saw  pierced  with  seven 
swords  was  the  heart  of  his  mother,  we  beheld  an  affecting  illustration  of 
the  beautiful  thought  of  Tertullian,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  naturally  Chris- 
tian !  On  such  occasions  it  is  surely  not  difficult,  after  a  short  instruction 
on  true  faith  and  love  of  God,  to  excite  feelings  of  pity  for  their  fellow 
creatures  in  the  most  ferocious  bosoms.  .  .  .  May  the  God  of  Mercies, 
in  whom  we  alone  place  all  our  trust,  bless  our  undertaking  and  enable  us 

to  no  other  tribe  that  I  know  of.  ...  I  found  these  people  cutting-  off  the  hair  with  small 
scissors,  which  they  purchase  of  the  fur  traders;  and  they  told  me  that  previous  to  getting-  scissors 
they  cut  it  away  with  their  knives  ;  and  before  they  got  knives  they  were  in  the  habit  of  burning 
it  off  with  red-hot  stones,  which  was  a  very  slow  and  painful  operation."— George  Catlin,  Illus- 
trations of  the  Manners,  Customs  and  Conditions  of  the  North  American  Indians,  London,  1876, 
vol.  2,  pp.  23,  24. 


28 


Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 


Ah-ke-dah-shin-gah,  Little  Soldier,  a  typical 
Indian  brave. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  29 

to  predict  that  our  sweat,  mixed  with  the  fertilizing  dew  of  heaven,  will  fall 
auspiciously  on  this  long  barren  earth,  and  make  it  produce  something  else 
besides  briars  and  thorns  ! " 24 

It  seems  from  the  following  that  there  was  something  noble  and  com- 
mendable in  the  character  of  the  early  Kansa  nation,  which  was  of  such  re- 
pute that  it  also  received  a  tribute  from  an  English  writer  who  had  visited 
America,  and  was  discussing  forms  of  government,  etc.  In  a  history  of 
Connecticut,  by  Samuel  A.  Peters,  printed  in  1781  in  London,  on  page  103, 
we  find  this  complimentary  observation  regarding  the  tribe: 

"The  American  Cansez,  near  Lake  Superior,  enjoy  liberty  complete 
without  jealousy.  Among  them  the  conscious  independence  of  each  indi- 
vidual warms  his  thoughts  and  guides  his  actions.  He  enters  the  sachemic 
dome  with  the  same  simple  freedom  as  he  enters  the  wigwam  of  his  brother, 
neither  dazzled  at  the  splendor  nor  awed  by  the  power  of  the  possessor. 
Here  is  liberty  in  perfection." 

This  writer  only  erred  in  the  location  of  the  tribe,  but  gives  the  name 
the  same  spelling  as  other  French  writers  of  that  period. 

NEOSHO  VALLEY  VILLAGES  AT  COUNCIL  GROVE. 

The  Kansa  made  their  home  from  1847  to  1873  on  the  diminished  reserve, 
surrounding  that  well-known  spot  in  the  Neosho  valley,  Council  Grove. 
Here  they  established  three  villages,  each  governed  by  a  chief. 

Cahola  Creek  village  was  on  a  creek  of  that  name  south  of  the  present 
town  of  Dunlap.  For  a  long  time  Al-le-ga-wa-ho,  the  head  chief,  presided 
at  this  village,  having  succeeded  the  old  Hard  Chief,  Kah-he-ga-wah-che-ha. 
This  village  was  the  largest  of  the  three,  and  Hard  Chief  ruled  here  from 
the  time  the  tribe  came  from  the  Kaw  valley,  in  1847,  until  some  time  in  the 
'60's,  when  he  died,  a  very  old  man.  He  was  of  ordinary  intellect,  but  not 
a  great  warrior.  Kah-he-gah  means  chief  and  wah-che-ha  hard  or  severe, 
and  this  chief  was  said  to  be  of  that  type. 

Al-le-ga-wa-ho,  his  successor,  was  a  remarkable  character,  long  trusted 
as  the  wisest  leader  of  the  tribe.  He  was  elected  head  chief  when  Kah-he- 
gah-wah-ti-an-gah  the  Second,  Fool  Chief  the  Younger,  lost  his  position  for 
having  killed  a  noted  brave  without  cause.  Al-le-ga-wa-ho  was  tall  and 
stately,  about  six  feet  six,  and  was  long  noted  as  the  most  eloquent  orator 
of  the  tribe.  He  was  considered  safe  and  honest  in  his  dealings,  and  one  of 
the  few  noted  Indians  of  his  day  who  could  not  be  bribed.  He  had  three 
wives,  one  of  whom  was  his  special  favorite,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  follow- 
ing incident:  It  was  always  a  disputed  question  whether  she  or  the  wife  of 
his  cousin,  Fool  Chief  the  Younger,  was  the  finest  looking.  At  one  time 
she  had  been  sick  for  weeks  and  at  last  was  convalescent,  but  was  very  par- 
ticular and  dainty  about  her  diet.  She  turned  away  from  all  kinds  of  fixed- 
up  dishes  for  the  sick,  and  longed  for  that  prized  Indian  dish  of  dog  meat. 
To  gratify  her  appetite  Al-le-ga-wa-ho  came  to  Council  Grove  and  begged 
for  a  fat  dog,  stating  that  it  was  the  only  thing  that  would  satisfy  and  cure 
his  wife.  He  found  that  one  could  be  bought  for  two  dollars,  but  having 
spent  all  of  his  annuity  money,  had  to  borrow  the  price  from  a  friend,  and 
hastened  back  rejoicing  to  his  village  with  the  doomed  canine.  Around 
Council  Grove,  when  a  fat  dog  disappeared,  it  was  always  known  where  it 

Note  24.— De  Smet's  Letters  and  Sketches,  1843,  p.  64. 


30 


Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 


Stone  house  built  for  Kaw  Indians. 


went.      Al-le-ga-wa-ho  lived  to  be  a  very  old  man,  and  died  in  the  Indian 
Territory  years  ago. 

Fool  Chief's  village  was  near  the  present  town  of  Dunlap,  in  the  valley. 
Kah  he-ga-wah-ti-an-ga  Second,  governed  this  village  for  a  long  time,  having 
succeeded  Ish-tah-le-sah  (Speckled  Eye),  his  uncle.  Speckled  Eye  was  a 
brother  of  Hard  Chief  and  second  in  rank  as  a  ruler.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  and  positive  personality  and  was  sober  and  alert.  He  was  the  fa- 
mous orator  of  the  old  triumvirate,  and  was  always  put  forward  on  important 
occasions  when  government  officers  visited  the  tribe,  because  of  his  ability 
to  make  a  great  speech.  He  died  from  eating  too  much  "store  trash"  the 
same  day  he  received  his  annuity  money.  He  had  been  living  on  short  ra- 
tions and  the  change  was  too  sudden.  He  was  tall,  spare  of  flesh  and  very 
dignified,  and  had  a  prominent  Roman  nose  between  very  high  cheek-bones. 
He  had  far  more  influence  in  tribal  matters  than  his  elder  brother,  Hard 
Chief.  At  his  death,  his  nephew,  Fool  Chief  the  Younger,  took  his  place 
and  became  head  chief  of  the  tribe,  but  lost  the  position  by  an  unworthy 
act— killing  a  brave  without  cause,  and  came  very  near  to  suffering  the 
death  penalty.  He  was  tried  by  the  tribe  and  only  saved  himself  by  paying 
as  a  fine  a  large  number  of  ponies,  blankets,  robes  and  other  valuables,  and 
assigning  his  annuity  for  a  time;  all  of  which  went  to  the  mourning  widow, 
who  at  last  was  appeased  and  went  away  rejoicing  with  the  abundance  of 
her  possessions.  This  incident  took  much  from  the  former  prestige  of  this 
chief  and  soured  his  later  years.  While  most  of  the  Kansa  chiefs  had  sev- 
eral wives,  he  had  but  two.  His  second  wife  was  his  by  custom,  being  his 
deceased  brother's  wife.  His  real  wife  was  long  considered  the  beauty  of 
the  tribe,  which  did  not  have  many  handsome  squaws.  She  was  noted  for 
her  intelligent  countenance,  was  tall,  of  fine  physique  and  a  rich  dresser. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  31 

Her  family  did  not  belong  to  that  village,  but  he  stole  her  by  a  shrewd  and 
sensational  elopement  from  the  neighboring  village  nearer  Council  Grove. 
Fool  Chief  went  to  the  Territory  with  the  tribe,  and  was  the  last  of  the 
"Fool"  chiefs,  as  the  name  died  with  him. 

The  third,  or  Big  John,  village  was  located  near  Big  John  creek,  south- 
east of  Council  Grove,  and  was  not  far  from  the  agency.  At  one  time  this 
village  was  situated  within  a  mile  of  Council  Grove,  and  the  high  ground 
where  the  old  Allen  farmhouse  now  stands  was  about  the  center  of  the  vil- 
lage. This  village  used  to  make  use  of  the  lake  on  the  Stenger  farm  in 
which  to  wash  their  ponies.  Peg-gah-hosh-she  was  the  first  chief  to  rule  at 
this  village.  He  was  a  brother  of  Hard  Chief  and  Speckled  Eye,  and  one  of 
the  three  big  chiefs  who  came  with  the  tribe  from  their  home  on  the  Kaw. 
He  belonged  to  the  old  dynasty,  the  old  crowd,  and  was  a  man  of  much 
force,  stubborn  and  set  in  his  ruling.  Of  the  three  old  chiefs  he  was  con- 
sidered the  most  skilled  and  trusted  warrior  of  the  three  brothers.  He  died 
about  1870,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Wah-ti-an-ga,  a  son  of 
Speckled  Eye. 

Wah-ti-an-ga  was  a  cunning  and  rather  tricky  fellow,  and  was  given  to 
the  use  of  liquor,  much  to  his  disgrace  and  the  safety  of  those  around  him. 
Under  one  of  these  spells  caused  by  pie-ge-ne  (whisky)  he  followed  Mr. 
Huffaker  around  all  one  afternoon,  seeming  to  want  to  keep  right  at  his 
side.  Mr.  Huffaker  suspicioned  nothing,  but  a  friend  by  the  name  of  Ching- 
gah-was-see  (Handsome  Bird)  did  a  handsome  thing  by  watching  his  chance 
and  telling  Mr.  Huffaker  that  the  drunken  chief  had  made  his  boasts  that 
he  would  not  leave  town  till  he  had  taken  the  life  of  Tah-poo-skah,  that  be- 
ing the  Indian  name  of  Mr.  Huffaker,  meaning  teacher.  Wan  ti-an-ga 
claimed  that  it  would  be  a  great  deed  to  kill  so  important  a  personage.  It 
was  fortunate  that  Handsome  Bird  informed  him,  for  it  is  never  safe  to 
trust  an  Indian  crazed  or  foolish  with  liquor,  for  sometimes  they  will  kill 
their  best  friend.  Wah-ti-an-ga  was  still  a  chief  when  the  tribe  went  to  the 
Territory,  where  he  lived  for  a  long  time.  Ching-gah-was-see  was  a  good 
Indian  and  noted  brave,  and  had  the  honor  of  having  a  spring  named  for 
him.  This  spring  is  a  few  miles  north  of  the  city  of  Marion  and  is  noted 
for  its  medicinal  qualities. 

Three  or  four  different  schemes  for  improving  the  condition  of  the  tribe 
were  undertaken  during  the  twenty-six  years  of  its  sojourn  at  Council 
Grove,  such  as  the  Methodist  Indian  mission ;  building  houses  for  those  who 
would  live  in  them ;  instruction  in  farming  and  stock-raising ;  and  the 
Quaker  educational  effort.  For  the  most  part  these  efforts  were  not  of 
sufficient  duration  and  energy  to  fully  test  them  While  there  were  indi- 
vidual cases  of  improvement,  the  general  condition  of  the  tribe  was  influ- 
enced very  little. 

The  Indian  mission  school  was  erected  in  1850  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South,  from  funds  furnished  by  the  United  States  government.  The 
teachers  were  T.  S.  Huffaker  and  wife  and  H.  W.  Webster  and  wife— Mr. 
Huffaker  having  charge  of  the  school  and  Mr.  Webster  of  the  farming  and 
stock-raising.  This  school  was  closed  in  1854,  the  reason  alleged  being  its 
large  expense,  amounting  to  fifty  dollars  per  capita  annually,  and  the  gov- 
ernment refused  to  increase  the  appropriation.  The  pupils  were  generally 
orphans  and  dependents  of  the  tribe  and  were  all  boys,  for  the  Indians  ab- 
solutely refused  to  send  any  of  their  girls.     The  custom  was  to  give  away 


32  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

the  girls  in  marriage  a  long  time  before  the  ceremony.  In  fact,  the  mar- 
riage of  the  young  Indian  girls  was  nothing  more  than  a  consummation  of  a 
bargain  and  sale,  and  the  bargain  was  made  with  their  parents  when  the 
girls  were  quite  young— usually  before  they  were  in  their  teens. 

Mr.  Huffaker  says  that  he  never  knew  but  one  Kansa  Indian  whom  he 
considered  converted  to  the  Christian  faith.  His  name  was  Sho-me-kos-se 
(a  wolf).  There  was  an  interpreter  at  this  school  to  assist  the  teachers,  by 
the  name  of  William  Johnson,  who  was  named  after  the  first  missionary  to 
the  tribe.  This  interpreter  was  fine-looking,  intelligent,  alert  and  withal  a 
good  man,  although  a  full-blooded  Indian. 

This  old  Kaw  Indian  mission  building  is  one  of  the  most  historic  struc- 
tures in  Kansas,  and  at  this  date  is  in  a  perfect  state  of  preservation.  It 
is  full  two  stories  high,  constructed  of  stone  from  the  near-by  quarry  and 
native  lumber  from  the  original  Council  Grove.  It  has  eight  rooms,  and  in 
each  gable  are  two  large  projecting  stone  fireplace  chimneys;  the  walls  are 
very  thick;  the  general  appearance  of  the  structure  is  solid  and  quaint,  and 
the  surroundings  are  very  romantic.  It  is  still  used  as  a  residence,  and, 
strange  to  relate,  only  a  few  months  ago  Judge  Huffaker  and  his  wife 
moved  back  to  live  again  within  its  walls,  which  sheltered  them  over  a  half- 
century  ago,  when  they  taught  the  Indians  before  Kansas  was  even  a  terri- 
tory. 

It  has  been  used  for  many  purposes— as  schoolhouse,  council-house, 
court-house,  meeting-house,  and  a  fortress  during  the  Indian  raids  and 
scares  of  frontier  days,  when  it  was  a  coveted  stronghold  to  which  the 
early  settler  often  fled  for  safety.  Governors  and  officers  of  the  state  and  the 
army  have  been  entertained  in  this  building.  Often  it  has  been  the  retreat 
and  welcome  resting-place  for  explorers,  travelers  and  tired  missionaries 
on  their  way  to  Mexico  and  the  far.  Southwest,  when  homes  and  places  of 
entertainment  were  few  and  far  between.  Once  Governor  Reeder  and 
party  stopped  here  for  two  days  on  an  expedition  to  select  a  site  for  the 
territorial  capital,  and  probably  Council  Grove  would  have  been  chosen  had 
it  not  been  for  the  uncertainty  of  title  to  the  Kansa  Indian  lands.  This  old 
structure  stands  on  the  bank  of  the  Neosho  river,  in  the  north  part  of  the 
present  city,  and  is  close  by  the  ancient  river  ford.  Years  ago,  at  a  near-by 
spot,  an  old  foot-bridge  was  constructed  for  use  during  high  water,  and  all 
the  surroundings  of  this  old  Indian  mission  are  both  attractive  and  romantic. 

It  was  unfortunate  that  the  United  States  government  did  not  spend 
more  money  in  this  educational  effort  with  this  tribe.  This  school  should 
not  have  been  closed  simply  because  the  cost  per  pupil  reached  fifty  dollars 
annually,  especially  when  we  consider  the  rich  domain  along  the  Kansas  val- 
ley and  elsewhere  which  the  tribe  surrendered  to  the  government  for  a  mere 
trifle  of  its  real  worth.  Many  of  the  pupils  were  fairly  quick  to  learn  and 
succeeded  along  certain  lines  of  literary  work,  but  they  did  not  represent 
the  children  of  the  best  element  of  the  tribe.  The  full-blooded,  aristocratic 
type  of  Indian  considered  it  degrading  in  the  extreme  to  be  taught  the  white 
man's  education.  They  were  honest  in  this,  for  they  believed  it  would 
weaken  them  in  all  the  elements  which  preserved  the  true  Indian  character. 
Few  white  men  of  their  acquaintance  were  worthy  of  example.  In  this 
they  were  different  from  the  emigrant  Indians,  some  of  whom  advocated 
and  encouraged  educational  and  religious  movements.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem,  from  1854  to  1873  there  was  practically  no  missionary  or  religious  ef- 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians. 


33 


In  a  wheat-field  —  "  A  Cabin  of  the  Kaws." 

fort  made  with  this  tribe.  They  were  left  to  grow  up  in  their  old-time  ig- 
norance and  superstition. 

During  the  summer  of  1855  over  400  of  the  tribe  were  the  victims  of 
smallpox.25  Their  burying-grounds  are  scattered  along  the  Neosho  valley 
and  on  the  neighboring  slopes.  Cultivation  has  obliterated  many  graves, 
except  where  the  lands  have  been  used  for  pasture.  There  the  scars  on  the 
earth  are  still  visible,  where  the  piles  of  stones  or  flat  slabs  are  mute  re- 
minders of  that  dreadful  scourge  which  has  so  often  decimated  the  tribes  of 
the  West. 

One  peculiarity  about  the  type  of  smallpox  among  the  Kaws  was  that  it 
did  not  seem  to  spread  from  the  Indians  to  the  whites.  Mr.  Huffaker  and 
other  whites  who  were  with  the  Indians  in  all  stages  of  the  contagion  never 
took  it,  and  their  observation  was  that  it  could  not  be  transmitted  from  an 
Indian  to  a  white  man.  The  only  white  man  in  Council  Grove  who  had  the 
disease  got  it  from  a  negro  slave  who  took  it  from  the  Indians.  This  white 
man  took  rare  of  the  negro  in  his  sickness  and  died,  while  the  negro  re- 
covered.    The  negro  was  returned  to  his  owner  at  Independence. 


Note  25.— Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1885,  p.  434. 


34  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

After  the  treaty  of  1859,  when  the  Kaw  reservation  was  reduced  in  size 
to  what  was  known  as  the  diminished  reserve,  the  agency  of  the  tribe  was 
moved  from  Council  Grove  to  a  point  about  four  miles  southeast  of  the  city, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Big  John,  where  some  of  the  buildings  remain  to-day. 
The  government  constructed  substantial  buildings,  consisting  of  the  agency 
house  and  stables,  storehouse,  council-house,  and  two  large  frame  school 
buildings.  They  were  principally  constructed  from  native  oak  and  black 
walnut  lumber  sawed  out  of  the  forests  along  the  river.  The  large  school 
buildings  were  the  most  interesting,  one  of  which  was  for  the  families  of 
the  people  connected  with  the  school  and  for  training  the  young  Indians  in 
cooking  and  other  domestic  ways.  The  other  building,  a  long,  two-story 
structure,  was  for  classes  and  school  purposes.  At  about  the  same  time 
that  these  agency  buildings  were  put  up  the  government  also  built  some  150 
small  stone  cottages  or  cabins  along  the  valley  on  the  reservation  for  the 
individual  use  of  Indian  families;  the  plan  being  to  educate  and  civilize  the 
tribe  as  much  as  possible,  and  to  teach  them  to  farm  and  care  for  them- 
selves, as  the  best  foundation  and  really  the  only  means  of  improving  them 
in  a  moral  and  religious  way.  The  government  erected  these  buildings  from 
Indian  funds,  and  the  educational  efforts  were  put  in  charge  of  the  Quakers, 
with  Mathon  Stubbs  as  manager.26 

School  was  opened  on  the  1st  of  May,  1863,  and  continued  until  Septem- 
ber, 1866,  when  the  agent,  Maj.  Henry  W.  Farns worth,  reported  that  the 
effort  had  been  a  failure  because  of  the  lack  of  missionary  work  among  both 
children  and  adults;  that  to  have  good  results  it  was  necessary  that  the 
children  should  be  "better  fed,  better  clothed  and  better  cared  for  in  every 
respect  than  the  children  at  home."  The  school  was  resumed  in  1869,  and 
continued  until  June,  1873,  when  the  tribe  removed  to  the  Territory.  This 
last  effort  was  more  suscessful,  the  parents  influencing  the  children  to  at- 
tend, and  sending  a  larger  proportion  of  girls.27 

Mr.  Stubbs  was  the  agent  of  the  Kansa  until  they  went  to  their  present 
location  in  the  Territory  in  1873.  Very  few  of  the  tribe  would  ever  consent  to 
live  in  the  comfortable  stone  houses  provided  for  their  use,  claiming  that 
houses  would  breed  disease,  and  were  not  as  healthy  as  wigwams  and  lodges. 

Prior  to  their  going  to  the  Territory  very  few  learned  to  farm,  and  those 
few  in  an  indifferent  and  careless  manner,  and  so  the  Quaker  effort  with 
the  tribe  was  as  unsuccessful  as  that  of  the  Methodist  nearly  twenty  years 
before. 

The  Kaws  never  took  kindly  to  the  religion  of  the  whites.  They  said: 
"It  may  be  all  right  for  you,  we  don't  know,  but  ours  is  better  for  us." 
They  were  not  as  much  given  even  to  Indian  religious  ceremonies  as  many 
other  tribes,  and  what  they  had  and  their  beliefs  they  carefully  guarded, 
and  they  were  very  reticent  to  express  themselves.  They  believed  in  a  Great 
Spirit  they  called  Wau-con-dah,  the  Manitou  of  the  other  tribes,  but  had 
many  grotesque  superstitions  bordering  on  polytheism,  for  there  were  in- 

NOTE  26.— Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Reports,  1863-'66,  1869-*73. 

Note  27.— United  States  Senator  Curtis  was  a  pupil  at  this  school  at  one  time.  His  parents 
lived  in  North  Topeka,  but  his  mother  being  a  member  of  the  Kansa  nation  (one-quarter  blood) 
he  was  sent  over  to  attend  the  tribal  school.  Senator  Curtis  and  his  three  children  are  recognized 
allotment  members  of  the  tribe,  and  have  been  given  their  due  proportion  of  the  tribal  lands  at 
the  Oklahoma  reservation.  Our  senator's  lineage  runs  thus:  Charles  Curtis,  son  of  Capt.  Orren 
A.  Curtis  and  his  wife  Ellen  Pappan;  Ellen  Pappan,  daughter  of  Louis  Pappan  and  his  wife  Julie 
Gonville;  Julie  Gonville,  daughter  of  Louis  Gonville  and  his  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  the 
Kansa  Chief  White  Plume  or  Wom-pa-wa-ra  (He  who  scares  all  men). 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians. 


35 


Group  of  Kaw  Indians,  about  1870,  in  full  dress.     Wa-mun-ka-wa-sha,  with  shield;  Sh* 
in-ka,  with  horns  ;  Margaret  Ma-hun-gah,  with  papoose,  belle  of  the  Kaws 


ferior  gods  or  spirits  everywhere  — in  the  seasons,  in  light,  in  darkness,  in 
heat  and  cold,  over  the  rivers,  plains,  woods,  hunting,  war,  etc. ;  but  they 
were  all  inferior  to  Wau-con-dah,  the  "  Great  Ghost  of  Heaven." 

Some  thought  that  his  home  was  in  the  sun.  some  in  the  moon.  The  sun- 
dance  was  originally  a  religious  ceremony.  Probably  no  tribe  in  the  United 
States  so  close  to  the  border  of  civilization  was  as  little  influenced  by  re- 
ligious and  educational  efforts. 

During  the  years  they  occupied  the  Council  Grove  reservation  they  jeal- 
ously preserved  many  of  their  ancient  customs— their  religion  and  supersti- 
tions, and  it  is  sad  to  relate  that  their  contact  with  their  white  brothers  was 
more  of  a  curse  than  a  blessing.  The  early  traveler  who  visited  them  one 
or  two  hundred  years  ago  found  a  far  better,  healthier  and  happier  people 
than  the  insignificant  remnant  of  a  once  great  tribe  that  was  hustled  off  to 
the  Indian  Territory  in  1873.  During  these  later  years  of  contact  with  the 
whites  the  vices  acquired  far  exceeded  the  benefits  or  virtues  received. 
Teachers  and  agents  might  be  ever  so  able  and  zealous  for  their  welfare, 
but  drunkenness  and  its  kindred  vices,  which  they  learned  from  the  mercen- 
ary white  man  and  Greaser  who  cared  nothing  for  them  but  the  robes  and 
pelts  they  traded,  destroyed  completely  the  influence  of  the  missionary  and 
teacher,  and  left  the  last  estate  of  the  tribe  far  more  abject  and  deplorable 
than  the  first. 

THE   CHEYENNE   RAID. 

On  .the  morning  of  June  2.  1868,  there  appeared  on  the  hills  west  of 
Council  Grove  several  hundred  well-armed  and  mounted  Cheyenne  and 
Arapahoe  warriors.      Their  coming,  which  had  been  heralded,  was  looked 


36  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

for  with  much  apprehension28  until  it  was  known  that  they  only  desired  to 
fight  the  Kaws,  against  whom  they  had  a  grudge  of  long  standing,  intensi- 
fied by  a  late  encounter.29  The  Kaws  had  gone  the  previous  October  to 
hunt  on  the  Arkansas,  and  were  overtaken  by  a  party  of  Arapahoes,  who, 
while  feigning  friendship,  stole  thirty-four  Kaw  ponies,  leaving  the  latter 
tribe  so  unhorsed  that  they  could  not  recover  their  property.  While  in  this 
condition,  near  Fort  Zarah  in  December,  they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of 
Cheyennes,  whom  they  charged,  and  after  a  spirited  fight  of  four  hours, 
drove  them  from  the  field,  leaving  fourteen  Cheyennes  killed  and  many 
others  wounded,  losing  themselves  but  two  killed  and  several  wounded. 

The  Cheyennes  were  led  by  their  noted  war-chief,  Little  Robe,  and  made 
an  imposing  display  as  they  filed  through  the  old  town  of  Council  Grove  en 
their  way  to  battle.  The  scattering  white  settlers  along  the  Neosho,  Cot- 
tonwood, Diamond  creek  and  other  streams  hastened  to  the  various  frontier 
towns  and  ranches,  and  organized  provisional  companies  of  rangers  for  gen- 
eral protection.  The  Indian  battle,  the  last  one  this  far  east  in  Kansas,  took 
place  near  the  agency,  a  few  miles  southeast  of  town.  The  Kansa  warriors, 
assisted  by  several  experienced  whites,  secreted  themselves  along  the  banks 
of  Big  John  creek  above  the  agency,  and  following  the  advice  of  their  white 
friends  refused  to  engage  in  battle  out  in  the  open  bottoms.  A  number  of 
Kansa  Indians  had  seen  service  in  the  Union  army  and  had  learned  the  ad- 
vantage of  protected  positions.  The  experience  of  the  Kaws  in  the  rebellion 
may  have  added  to  their  prowess  as  fighters.  Major  Farnsworth,  in  1864, 
reported  that  "nearly  a  full  company  of  the  young  men  are  in  the  second 
year  of  their  service  in  the  Union  army  in  the  rebel  states." 

This  turn  .of  affairs  discomfited  the  Cheyennes,  who  had  come  prepared 
for  fighting  on  horseback  in  plains  fashion,  and  after  several  ineffectual 
charges  and  failures  to  dislodge  their  enemies,  they  made  a  hasty  retreat 

Note  28.— Senator  Charles  Curtis,  one  of  the  United  States  senators  from  Kansas,  was  at- 
tending school  at  the  Kaw  agency  at  the  time  of  the  Cheyenne  raid,  and  made  a  record-breaking 
race  on  foot  from  Council  Grove  to  North  Topeka,  the  home  of  his  parents.  The  following,  re- 
garding this  exploit,  appeared  in  the  Topeka  Capital  during  his  candidacy  for  the  senate: 

"  Thirty-five  years  ago,"  continued  Senator  Morehouse  in  a  reminiscent  vein,  "a  little  North 
Topeka  boy  of  about  seven  summers  was  making  his  home  with  some  relatives  at  the  old  Kaw 
Indian  agency  adjoining  Council  Grove,  in  Morris  county.  He  was  a  lad  of  fine  features,  some- 
what shy  and  reserved,  and  of  delicate  and  diminutive  physique. 

"It  was  the  day  before  the  noted  Cheyenne  raid,  when  the  hordes  of  picked  and  painted  war- 
riors of  that  noted  tribe  suddenly  appeared  from  the  pathless  plains  and  filed  down  into  the 
beautiful  Neosho  valley  and  through  the  streets  of  Council  Grove  to  fight  their  old  enemies,  the 
Kaws.  The  plainsman,  David  Lucas,  had  just  arrived  after  a  daring  ride  of  forty-five  miles 
across  country  from  Marion  with  the  startling  tidings  that  Chief  Little  Robe  and  his  braves  were 
coming.  Great  excitement  prevailed,  and  the  few  settlers  scattered  along  the  creeks,  warned  by 
the  outriders  and  the  clanging  peals  of  the  old  bell  swinging  from  its  high  tower  on  Belfry  hill, 
hastily  gathered  at  Council  Grove,  the  nearest  'city  of  refuge.' 

"A  council  of  war  was  being  held  by  the  chief  braves  of  the  Kaws  and  a  number  of  their 
white  friends,  .who  were  going  to  help  them  in  their  defense  against  the  Cheyennes,  now  ex- 
pected at  any  hour.  This  quiet  little  boy  stood  by.  and,  listening  to  the  war  talk  of  the  elders 
and  plans  of  defense,  resolved  that  he  would  be  the  first  to  carry  the  news  of  the  impending  dan- 
ger across  the  country  to  his  folks  at  Topeka.  On  foot  and  alone,  with  that  fearlessness  and  in- 
dependence characteristic  of  the  coming  man.  he  took  a  short  cut  over  the  hills  and  prairies  in 
the  direction  of  his  native  city.  Guided  by  instinct  and  "night's  candles,"  the  shining  stars,  he 
covered  the  fifty  miles  in  a  space  of  time  that  would  do  credit  to  a  horseman.  He  demonstrated 
running  abilities  that  have  never  known  defeat. 

"  Years  passed  by,  and  that  little  boy  worked  up  the  ladder  of  success,  round  after  round, 
with  a  pluck,  energy  and  ability  worthy  of  the  highest  praise  and  emulation.  As  newsboy, 
hack-driver,  office-boy,  student,  lawyer,  county  attorney,  step  by  step  he  developed  qualities  of 
the  highest  character  and  the  serene  self-reliance  that  have  given  him  a  national  reputation 
during  the  ten  years  he  has  so  ably  represented  the  interests  of  his  native  state  in  the  halls  of 
Congress. 

"  From  the  time  of  that  exciting  frontier  episode  to  the  present  our  people  have  watched 
the  expanding  career  of  their  little  friend,  and  our  old  soldiers,  old  settlers,  young  men,  and 
everybody  —  almost  regardless  of  party  —  have  taken  pride  in  his  success." 

Note  29.— Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  1868.  p.  260. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  37 

back  to  their  home  on  the  plains.  On  their  way  back  they  committed  a 
number  of  depredations,  such  as  killing-  stock  and  robbing  houses.  While 
this  raid  was  exciting,  none  were  killed  on  either  side,  and  the  number  of 
wounded  was  very  light.  Fought  under  other  conditions,  in  the  open,  with 
both  forces  on  horseback,  it  would  probably  have  been  a  bloody  affair,  with 
the  chances  against  the  Kansa;  for  they  never  were  as  well  mounted  as  the 
Cheyennes— the  well-known  "Bedouins  of  the  plains." 

As  long  as  the  buffalo  lasted  .the  tribe  sent  annual  hunting  parties  out 
to  the  buffalo  country,  and  this  going  back  and  forth  wore  a  well-defined 
trail.30  This  trail,  still  visible  in  places,  passed  through  the  counties  of 
Morris,  Marion,  McPherson,  and  into  Rice  county,  where  this  tribe  for  a 
long  time  had  been  accustomed  to  establish  their  camp  at  the  forks  of  Cow 
creek.  This  was  rfght  in  the  heart  of  the  finest  hunting  country,  and  was 
a  handy  place  to  pitch  their  teepees,  dry  their  meat,  and  cure  their  furs  and 
robes.  They  went  out  in  the  fall  and  often  stayed  all  winter,  sending  back, 
however,  supplies  of  meat  to  those  who  had  to  stay  at  home.  This  finally 
became  a  well-worn  road  and  was  known  as  the  Kaw  trail. 

THE  KANSA  ADMITTED  INTO  THE  NORTHWESTERN  CONFEDERACY. 

The  treaties  under  which  the  W>  andot,  Shawnee,  Delaware,  Pottawat- 
omie, Ottawa,  Chippewa,  Peoria  and  Miami  Indians  came  to  Kansas  or  the 
West  provided  that  their  lands  should  never  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
any  territory  or  state.  When  bills  were  introduced  into  Congress  as  early  as 
1844,  looking  to  the  formation  of  Nebraska  territory,31  these  emigrant  tribes 
became  much  exercised,  for  they  could  see  that  their  treaty  rights  were 
sooner  or  later  to  be  violated.  This  led  to  a  peaceful  demonstration  on  their 
part— the  reorganization  of  the  northwestern  confederacy  of  tribes  and  the 
calling  of  an  Indian  congress,  which  met  near  Fort  Leavenworth  in  October, 
1848.  This  confederacy  consisted  of  the  above-named  tribes,  which  had  been 
in  league  for  a  hundred  years  in  their  eastern  home. 

Two  other  tribes  were  admitted  into  this  confederacy,  the  Kansa  and 
Kickapoo.  This  was  a  prominent  recognition  of  the  Kansa,  for  all  the  other 
nine  tribes  forming  this  confederacy  were  emigrants  from  Eastern  states, 
the  Kansa  Indians  alone  being  natives.32 

In  several  ways  the  Kansa  manifested  enterprise  in  attempting  to  adapt 

Note  30.—  For  a  full  description  of  this  Indian  highway,  and  numerous  customs  of  the  tribe 
while  at  Council  Grove,  see  the  author's  article,  "Along  the  Kaw  Trail,"  in  Kansas  Historical 
Collections,  vol.  8,  p.  206. 

Note  31.— In  1835,  Rev.  Isaac  McCoy,  in  his  Annual  Register  of  Indian  Affairs,  refers  to  the 
establishment  of  a  government  for  the  Indian  Territory  in  these  words: . 

"Most  of  the  tribes  within  the  Territory  have  expressed  a  desire  to  become  united  in  one 
civil  compact,  and  be  governed  by  laws  similar  to  those  of  the  United  States.  Should  the  United 
States  provide  for  them  a  form  of  civil  government,  suited  to  their  circumstances,  a  few  among 
each  of  the  emigrant  tribes,  and  many  among  some  of  those  tribes,  would  be  found  capable  of 
filling  responsible  offices  in  the  transaction  of  the  affairs  of  their  government." 

In  the  third  number  of  the  same  publication,  1837,  Mr.  McCoy  enlarges  upon  this  theme,  and 
copies  from  a  report  made  by  Horace  Everett,  May  20,  1834,  on  a  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a 
general  government  for  the  Indian  Territory  and  its  representation  by  a  delegate  at  Washington. 
In  April,  1837,  Mr.  McCoy,  under  instructions,  selected  a  tract  of  land  near  the  Ottawa  mission 
f°r  the  seat  of  government  of  this  anticipated  territory,  which  was  never  organized.  In  the  An- 
nual Register  of  1835,  page  3,  is  the  following  description  of  the  bounds  of  the  Indian  Territory: 

"By  the  Indian  Territory  is  meant  the  country  within  the  following  limits,  viz.:  Beginning 
on  Red  river,  east  of  the  Mexican  boundary,  and  as  far  west  of  Arkansas  territory  as  the  coun- 
try is  habitable  ;  thence  down  Red  river  eastwardly  to  Arkansas  territory  ;  thence  northwardly 
along  the  line  of  Arkansas  territory  to  the  state  of  Missouri ;  thence  north  along  its  western  line 
to  Missouri  river ;  thence  up  Missouri  river  to  Puncah  river  ;  thence  westwardly  as  far  as  the 
country  is  habitable  ;  thence  southwardly  to  the  beginning." 

Note  32.— W.  E.  Connelley,  in  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  vol.  6,  p.  99. 


38  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

themselves  to  the  advancing  civilization  of  the  whites,  and  it  is  a  pity  that 
they  did  not  receive  that  degree  of  assistance  from  both  state  and  church 
they  would  receive  to-day  could  the  scroll  of  history  be  turned  back.  Our 
present  United  States  senator,  Charles  Curtis,  has  informed  me  that  this 
tribe  was  the  first  to  ask  for  a  division  of  tribal  funds  and  lands  among  in- 
dividual Indians,  and  that  it  prepared  and  presented  a  bill  in  Congress  to 
that  effect. 

THE  KANSA  NOT  INCLINED  TO  AGRICULTURE. 

Some  have  unfairly  criticised  the  Kansa  Indians  because  they  did  not 
take  to  agriculture  and  adopt  other  ways  of  the  whites  as  readily  as  some 
other  tribes.  In  such  matters  we  should  not  hastily  draw  conclusions,  but 
remember  that  the  Kansa  had  fewer  opportunities  and  more  hindrances 
than  most  tribes. 

Generally  speaking,  the  squaws  alone  were  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  where 
any  was  tilled,  and  the  bearers  of  all  menial  burdens.  This  was  custom, 
handed  down  for  ages,  and  was  not  considered  any  indignity  heaped  upon 
the  women.  They  did  not  want  the  braves  to  work,  never  made  complaints, 
and  would  scorn  to  object  to  their  tasks.  The  duty  of  the  braves  was  to 
hunt  and  to  fight,  and  to  consider  those  things  which  were  for  the  general 
good  of  the  tribe  as  a  nation.  According  to  their  ideals  of  true  Indian  char- 
acter, servile  duties  about  the  camp  or  village,  or  any  labor  of  the  white 
man's  kind,  were  to  them  degrading  in  the  extreme. 

While  this  was  not  in  harmony  with  the  standards  of  the  civilization  the 
whites  would  thurst  upOn  them,  it  was  not  improper  from  a  wise  economy  in 
true  Indian  life.  In  a  pure  state  of  Indian  society,  where  skill  and  prowess 
in  hunting  and  on  the  war  path  were  at  the  very  foundation  of  success,  and 
even  of  tribal  existence  itself,  it  was  necessary  that  the  braves  be  as  free 
as  possible  from  the  small  details  and  toils  of  camp  life,  that  they  might  be- 
come proficient  along  those  lines  which  brought  strength  and  renown  to  their 
tribe. 

For  years  the  Kansa,  though  few  in  numbers  compared  with  the  hostile 
tribes  which  beset  them,  maintained  a  proud  standing  as  a  nation  of  fight- 
ers. This  could  not  be  done  with  the  braves  following  the  cultivation  of 
the  fields.  It  was  no  idle  excuse  they  once  made  for  not  devoting  more  time 
to  agricultural  pursuits,  when  they  said  they  were  afraid  to  work  for  fear 
the  Pawnees  would  come  upon  them  and  kill  them  all  off.33 

At  different  times  the  government  appointed  a  farmer  to  instruct  them 
along  lines  of  agriculture.  The  Indians  called  this  official  Wah-gos-see,  the 
farmer. 

The  first  one  appointed  was  Daniel  Morgan  Boone,  son  of  the  Kentucky 
pioneer,  who  opened  a  farm  at  the  first  Kaw  agency  in  Jefferson  county,  in 
the  fall  of  1827,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Kansas,  about  seven  miles  north- 
west of  Lawrence.34  In  1835,  when  the  tribe  had  become  established  in 
western  Shawnee  county,  he  cultivated  two  farms  of  300  acres  each  in  the 
Kansas  valley,  one  of  which  was  on  north  side  of  the  river,  about  fifteen  miles 
above  Topeka,  and  the  other  near  the  Mission  creek  villages.  John  T.  Peery 
was  farmer  during  the  years  1845-'46.  At  Council  Grove  some  300  acres  of 
the  richest  Neosho  valley  bottom-land  was  prepared  and  some  little  success 

Note  33.  —  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs.  Report,  1842,  p.  63. 

Note  34.—  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  vol.  9,  p.  195.  A  full  description  of  the  agency  and 
farm  are  here  given. 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  39 

made  in  raising  corn ;  but  very  few  of  the  braves  would  consent  to  work 
steadily  in  the  fields,  it  being  the  work  of  the  squaws.  In  1863  T.  S.  Huf- 
faker  was  the  official  farmer. 

After  the  tribe  moved  to  Oklahoma,  in  1873,  greater  progress  along  the 
line  of  farming  and  stock-raising  was  made,  and  a  number  of  them  have 
done  fairly  well. 

The  following  report  of  the  farmer  is  worthy  of  notice,  among  other 
items  stating  that  over  eighty  braves  had  enlisted  in  the  United  States  army 
during  that  year : 

"Kansas  Agency,  September  15,  1863. 

"Sir— I  submit  this  as  my  report  for  the  past  year  as  farmer  for  the 
Kansas  Indians.  The  Indians  are  still  laboring  under  the  same  disadvantages 
mentioned  in  my  last  annual  report,  the  same  insufficient  number  of  oxen, 
plows  and  other  agricultural  implements;  but  they  have,  notwithstanding 
these  difficulties,  been  able  to  plant  more  than  300  acres  of  ground,  from 
which  they  will  gather  some  eight  or  nine  thousand  bushels  of  corn.  They 
have  devoted  most  of  their  time  to  the  raising  of  corn,  being  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  culture  of  corn  than  of  other  products.  Many  families 
have  been  unable  to  cultivate  their  farms  as  they  should,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  many  of  their  able-bodied  men  have  gone  into  the  army,  of  whom  more 
than  eighty  have  enlisted  in  the  United  States  service  during  the  last  year. 
The  Indians  are  well  pleased  with  their  new  mode  of  life,  and  say  they  do 
not  desire  to  exchange  their  present  mode  for  the  former.  They,  to  com- 
mence another  year  favorably,  should  be  furnished  with  an  additional  num- 
ber of  oxen,  plows,  etc.,  say  twice  the  number  they  now  have. 

T.  S.  Huffaker, 

Farmer  for  Kansas  Indiana." 
NEGLECT  OF  THE  KANSA  IN  EDUCATIONAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  HELP. 

One  of  the  most  pitiful  failures  of  the  whites  in  the  educational  and  re- 
ligious betterment  of  an  Indian  tribe  is  to  be  found  in  the  illy  directed  efforts 
followed  with  the  Kansa  nation.  It  was  so  marked  and  far-reaching  in  its 
influences  that  I  would  not  feel  like  leaving  this  subject  without  calling  at- 
tention to  it. 

If  the  same  wise  and  persistent  energy  had  been  used  with  this  tribe  by 
the  United  States  and  by  church  organizations  as  was  used  with  the  Osages, 
the  result  would  have  been  far  different.  The  United  States  commenced  to 
take  an  interest  in  both  these  tribes  about  the  same  time,  and  began  to  treat 
with  them  regarding  their  lands,  etc.,  but  in  some  way  the  poor  Kansa  were 
cheated  at  every  turn  in  the  road;  robbed  of  their  richest  lands  without  just 
recompense,  and  at  last  became  beggars,  when  they  should  have  been  as 
wealthy  as  the  Osage. 

In  1825,  the  Kansa  were  induced  to  sell  their  right  to  about  one-half  of 
the  richest  part  of  the  great  state  of  Kansas  for  a  mere  pittance,  that  a  lot 
of  immigrant  tribes  might  be  provided  with  homes.35  They  surrendered 
their  happy  home  and  far-reaching  hunting-grounds,  the  region  occupied  by 
their  tribe  for  ages  and  which  supplied  all  their  wants,  were  driven  from 
one  diminished  reserve  to  another,  till  they  had  to  depend  entirely  upon  the 
charity  of  Uncle  Sam  for  daily  sustenance,  and  at  last  accept  as  a  refuge  an 
inferior  corner  of  the  Osage  lands  in  Oklahoma. 

The  government,  after  taking  away  its  mighty  domain,  made  only  spas- 
modic efforts  toward  civilizing  the  tribe.  From  the  date  of  the  St.  Louis 
treaty  of  June  3,  1825,  when  the  tribe  was  despoiled  of  an  empire,  down  to 

Note  35. — Miss  Abel's  "Indian  Reservations  in  Kansas,"  in  Kansas  Historical  Collections,  vol. 
:8,  pp.  75,  76,  98. 


40 


Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 


Wa-mun-ka-wa-sha,  a  brave. 


Ma-ja-ho-ja,  an  Indian  boy,  about  1870. 


its  removal  to  the  Indian  Territory  in  1873,  nearly  half  a  century,  not  to  ex- 
ceed a  total  of  twelve  years  of  educational  advantages  was  provided  for 
them,  and  that  cf  a  very  ordinary  and  half-hearted  character. 

At  Mission  creek,  Shawnee  county,  Rev.  J.  T.  Peery  kept  a  few  Indian 
children  at  the  mission  house  and  taught  them  one  year.  Prior  to  this,  a 
few  Kansa  children  attended  the  manual-labor  school  at  Shawnee  Mission, 
in  Johnson  county.  In  1847  the  tribe  was  removed  to  their  diminished  reserve 
at  Council  Grove.  Four  years  passed  and  nothing  was  done  for  them  in  an 
educational  way.  In  1851  the  Kaw  Indian  mission  school  was  started,  but 
ran  for  only  four  years,  closing  in  1854. 

Nineteen  years  elapsed  from  the  close  of  this  school  to  the  removal  of 
the  tribe  to  the  Territory,  and  yet,  during  this  long  period,  not  a  thing  was 
done  for  the  tribe  in  a  religious  way,  and  in  education  only  eight  years,  at 
most,  when  there  was  school  at  the  agency  near  Council  Grove,  supported 
by  the  government  and  conducted  by  the  Quakers.  The  tribe  lived  at  Coun- 
cil Grove  about  twenty-five  years  in  all,  and  during  that  time  for  only  about 
twelve  years  was  there  any  school  opened  for  the  training  of  their  children, 
and  that  of  such  limited  character  that  it  reached  but  few. 

But  what  seems  strangest,  during  that  entire  quarter  of  a  century  no 
resident  missionary  or  priest  of  the  Gospel  was  maintained  by  the  govern- 
ment or  any  church  denomination  to  live  with  and  labor  for  this  tribe.  In 
all  this  time,  the  only  thing  of  an  uplifting  character  was  the  mission  and 
the  Quaker  school  referred  to,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  these  were 
educational  efforts  and  not  religious. 

During  this  period  Council  Grove  grew  to  be  a  smart  business  town  and 
one  of  the  early  centers  of  Kansas  civilization,  noted  for  its  good  schools, 
good  society  and  good  churches,  but  nothing  of  a  religious  character  was 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Katv  Indians.  41 

undertaken  with  this  tribe.  Two  branches  of  the  Methodist  church  were 
organized,  besides  Presbyterian,  Congregational  and  other  churches,  all  for 
the  whites.  These  took  an  active  interest  in  the  heathen  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world,  and  collections  for  the  support  of  missions  among  them,  but 
nothing  was  done  to  carry  the  religion  of  the  Cross  to  these  benighted 
wards  at  our  very  doors. 

It  was  not  only  a  blunder  on  the  part  of  the  government,  but  it  was 
criminal  after  cheating  them  out  of  their  Kansas  valley  homes  to  remove 
them  to  Council  Grove.  Here  they  were  placed  nearNa  trading  center  on 
the  Santa  Fe  trail,  where  their  contact  with  piejene  (fire-water),  the  whisky 
of  the  whites,  and  other  vices,  proved  far  more  injurious  than  any  knowl- 
edge of  civilization  received  could  overcome.  Here  they  were  totally  neg- 
lected in  a  religious  way,  and  only  experiments  of  a  brief  and  ineffectual 
nature  undertaken  for  their  education. 

Some  have  been  inclined  to  make  critical  comparisons  between  the  Kansa 
and  Osage  Indian  tribes,  and  tried  to  explain  the  differences  between  them 
on  the  unfair  assumption  that  these  two  tribes  were  of  different  types,  dif- 
ferent capacities,  different  languages.  This  is  all  erroneous  and  very  un- 
fair; the  only  difference  to  the  credit  of  the  Osages  has  been  brought  about 
because  they  were  treated  in  a  better  manner  by  both  state  and  church. 

In  language,  there  is  no  greater  difference  than  exists  between  Northern 
and  Southern  state  dialects.  Originally  they  were  the  same  people,  and 
when  the  government  first  assumed  to  shape  their  future  they  were  of  the 
same  class  of  Indians— having  the  same  customs,  habits  and  attire,  and  were 
the  same  physically,  mentally  and  morally.  No,  the  difference  came  from 
the  neglect  of  one  tribe  and  favoritism  for  the  other. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  their  Osage  brothers,  who  were  always  the  recipi- 
ents of  patient  and  persistent  educational  and  religious  attention  by  devoted 
missionaries  of  the  Catholic  church,  far  outstripped  the  Kansa  Indians  in 
wealth,  energy,  business  capacity  in  preserving  their  rights,  and  advanced 
further  along  educational  and  religious  lines? 

The  Kansa,  neglected  by  state  and  church,  fell  before  an  unfair  contest 
with  the  white  man's  civilization,  while  the  Osages,  who  since  1827  have 
been  the  favored  ones  in  business  bargains  with  the  government,  and  the 
special  charge  of  a  devoted  and  continued  missionary  effort  on  the  part  of 
such  devoted  teachers  as  Fathers  Charles  Van  Quickenborne,  Shoenmakers, 
Ponziglione,  Mother  Superior  Bridget  Hayden,  and  others,  are  now  among 
the  most  prosperous  of  western  tribes. 

What  a  different  tale  to  relate  regarding  the  Kansa  had  they  been  treated 
honestly,  their  imperial  home  ground  from  Manhattan  to  Topeka  and  east- 
ward been  preserved  for  their  use,  and  had  they  been  given  the  same  wise 
and  continuous  educational  and  moral  advantages  as  were  given  the  Osages. 
Instead  of  being  the  sorry  remnant,  destined  to  obliteration,  they  might 
have  been  filling  the  same  important  part  in  Kansas  affairs  now  occupied  by 
the  Osages  in  Oklahoma. 

No  one  should  point  the  finger  of  scorn  at  the  Kansa  Indians  and  make 
unfair  comparisons  without  considering  these  facts. 


42  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

THE  KANSA  LANGUAGE  NEVER  REDUCED  TO  WRITING. 

While  there  have  been  numerous  publications  in  the  Siouan  tongue,  cov- 
ering as  wide  a  scope  as  in  any  other  linguistic  group  of  North- American 
Indians,  it  is  strange  that  nothing  of  consequence  was  ever  attempted  in  the 
Kansa  dialect.  Other  tribes  of  the  Siouan  family,  such  as  the  Omaha, 
Ponka,  Iowa,  Oto,  Missouri  and  Osage,  have  had  many  school-books  published, 
and  several  of  them  have  had  prayer-books  and  portions  of  the  Bible  printed 
in  their  dialects  If  anything  of  this  kind  was  ever  done  for  the  Kansa  na- 
tion, it  is  not  now  to  be  found.  When  we  realize  the  fact  that  while  ex- 
tensive scholastic  and  religious  efforts  were  made  among  most  other  tribes 
the  Kansa  Indians  were  often  entirely  neglected  for  periods  of  from  ten  to 
twenty-five  years,  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  made  such  slow  progress  along 
these  lines.  Apparently  the  Kansa  language  was  never  reduced  to  an  exact 
system  of  writing;  that  tribe  had  but  little,  if  any,  help  from  text-books, 
dictionaries,  parts  of  the  Bible,  etc.,  as  did  the  other  tribes,  and  so  very  little 
has  ever  been  done  to  preserve  the  features  of  the  language  of  this  once  im- 
portant nation,  the  early  history  of  which  is  so  interesting  and  important  as 
a  part  of  the  annals  of  our  state.  While  it  has  been  generally  understood 
that  nothing  was  ever  printed  in  this  language,  and  the  writer  has  always 
been  so  informed  by  old  members  of  the  tribe,  their  later  agents  and  teach- 
ers, and  the  government  authorities  at  Washington,  I  was  very  much  sur- 
prised to  run  across  recently  the  evidence  that  a  small  book  was  once  printed 
in  the  Kansa  language,  although,  as  yet,  a  copy  has  not  been  found  for 
placing  in  the  collections  of  the  Historical  Society.  The  clew  to  the  fact 
that  there  was  such  a  publication  was  a  mere  mention  on  page  567  of  McCoy's 
History  of  Baptist  Indian  Missions,  1840.  Among  the  books  given  as  being 
printed  on  the  Meeker  press  at  the  Shawnee  Baptist  mission,  it  states:  "In 
Osage,  one;  in  Kauzau,  one  for  the  Methodists." 

Afterward  I  found,  in  the  Baptist  Missionary  Magazine  of  June,  1839, 
in  a  report  of  the  work  of  their  mission  printing-press  at  "  Shawanoe,  Ind. 
Territory  (Shawnee  Mission,  Johnson  county),  considerable  mention  of  this 
lost  Kansa  book.     Report  for  1839: 

"The  following  works  have  been  printed  at  the  Shawanoe  press,  exclu- 
sive of  the  Shawanoe  Sun,  in  addition  to  those  printed  last  year: 

"Harmony  in  Delaware 80pp.  Addit.,  16mo.,  40,000 

4  •  Hymns  in  Delaware 48pp.        ' '       24mo. ,  19, 200 

"*Kauzas  Book  in  Kanzas 24pp.        "       12mo.,    7,200" 

Another  mention  is  made  of  the  Kansa  book  in  the  report  of  1840,  viz. : 

"Mr.  Pratt  had  printed,  besides  completing  the  Delaware  harmony  and 
hymn  book,  a  continuation  of  Matthew  in  Shawanoe,  32  pp.,  16mo. ;  500  copies 
the  Epistle  of  John  in  Delaware;  for  the  Methodist  mission,  32  pp.,  12mo., 
500  copies  and  600  sheet  tracts. 

"The  amount  of  printing  executed  from  February,  1838,  to  November, 
1839,  (exclusive  of  the  Shawanoe  Sun,  in  Shawanoe,)  in  Shawanoe,  Dela- 
ware, and  Kauzas,  was  2500  copies,  or  58,600  8vo.  pp." 

James  C.  Pilling,  in  his  Bibliography  of  the  Algonquian  Languages,  lists 
the  books  issued  from  the  Meeker  press,  and  says,  "In  the  Kansas  (Kan- 
zan)  or  Kaw  language,  one  book  was  printed  for  Rev.  William  Johnson,  the 
Methodist  missionary,  probably  in  1836  or  1837."  It  was  probably  printed 
for  the  use  of  William  Johnson,  who  at  that  time  was  missionary  to  the 

"*  For  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission.  The  Indians  manifest  an  increasing  interest  in  the 
•operations  of  the  press." 


History  of  the  Kansa  or  Kaw  Indians.  43 

tribe;  whether  it  was  ever  used  or  not  is  not  known.  As  will  be  seen  by- 
reference  to  note  8,  page  102  of  this  volume,  such  books  were  short-lived. 
From  the  above  account  of  the  book,  it  appears  that  an  edition  of  only  300 
copies  of  a  24-page  book  was  printed,  or  7200  pages  in  all.36 

Rev.  Wm.  Johnson,  who  was  with  the  tribe  for  seven  years,  never  had  a 
competent  interpreter,  and  was  thus  much  hindered  in  reaching  the  tribe 
through  their  own  language,  although  before  his  death,  in  1842,  he  became 
proficient  in  it.  It  is  said  that  on  his  death-bed  he  advised  against  a  further 
attempt  to  teach  them  through  their  own  language,  as  he  considered  that  it 
was  deficient  in  words  to  properly  present  religious  truth,  and  to  try  to  teach 
by  sign  language  was  unsatisfactory.  His  idea  was  that  they  should  first  be 
taught  the  English  language  and  instructed  through  that.  Notwithstanding 
this  gloomy  view  which  Mr.  Johnson  took  regarding  the  Kansa  language,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  our  good  Catholic  brothers,  under  Fathers  Van 
Quickenborne,  Shoenmaker,  Ponziglione,  Mother  Bridget  Hayden  and  others, 
made  considerable  success  along  scholastic  and  religious  lines  in  the  use  of 
the  native  tongue  of  the  Osages  during  their  forty  years'  steady  labor  with 

Note  36.— The  following  statements  regarding  this  matter  have  been  received  from  Rev. 
Joab  Spencer,  sole  surviving  missionary  to  the  Shawnees.  and  from  Judge  T.  S.  Huffaker,  who 
was  a  teacher  to  the  Kansa  Indians  and  lived  with  them  in  various  official  capacities  from  1850  to 
1873.  Both  of  these  parties  were  well  acquainted  with  missionaries  and  those  working  with  the 
Kansa  tribe  prior  to  their  time. 
'•Geo.  P.  Morehouse,  Topefca,  Kan. :  "Slater.  Mo..  July  16.  1907. 

"My  Dear  Sir— Your  letter  received.  The  publication  you  mention  was  only  a  small  text- 
book for  use  in  the  Mission  school,  as  I  understand.  I  was  well  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Peery,  who 
was  Mrs.  Wm.  Johnson,  and  had  charge  of  the  school  for  the  seven  years  they  were  in  control  of 
the  Kansas  mission,  then  located  west  of  Topeka.  Mr.  Johnson  had  no  competent  interpreter,  I 
am  sure,  at  any  time.  In  fact,  his  wife  became  interpreter  for  the  mission,  and  also  on  different 
occasions  for  the  government.  You  can  rest  assured  that  there  never  was  a  publication  in  their 
language.  That  printing  office  was  a  small  affair.  When  I  was  with  the  Shawnees  I  found  a 
few  copies  of  the  Shawnee  New  Testament  printed  by  the  Baptist  brothers. 

"Thos.  Johnson  told  me  it  was  a  poor  translation.  The  Shawnees  were  using  a  small  hymn- 
book  which  had  been  printed  by  the  Baptists,  I  think,  but  translated  by  our  missionaries.  I  have 
a  copy  of  that  before  me.  I  used  it  in  all  my  services.  Our  missionaries  to  the  Delawares  also 
brought  out  a  little  hymn-book  in  that  language.  Rev.  Mr.  Meeker  had  charge  of  the  printing 
business.  Some  time  ago  I  had  one  of  our  pastors  call  on  a  daughter  of  Reverend  Meeker  in 
Kansas  City  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  anything  that  had  been  printed  by  her  father,  but  she 
had  nothing.  The  Johnsons  have  nothing,  and  Miss  Gore  (granddaughter  of  Blue  Jacket,  Shaw- 
nee chief.)  made  a  search  among  the  Shawnees  in  the  Indian  Territory,  but  found  nothing  but 
one  hymn-book,  the  one  I  now  have.    As  I  am  not  well,  you  will  excuse  my  rough  letter. 

Yours  cordially,  Joab  Spencer." 

Judge  Huffaker,  who  was  visiting  in  Oklahoma,  wrote  as  follows: 
"  Geo.  P.  Morehouse,  Topeka,  Kan.:  "  Fairfax,  Okla..  July  20,  1907. 

"Dear  George:— Yours  of  the  12th  instant  received,  and  unanswered  on  account  of  sickness. 
As  to  the  publication  of  a  book  in  the  Kaw  or  Kansas  language  by  the  Methodist  Publishing 
House,  I  firmly  believe  to  be  without  any  foundation  in  fact.  William  Johnson  was  among  them 
for  seven  years,  learned  their  language  thoroughly,  and  attempted  to  translate  a  religious  song- 
intending  to  translate  the  New  Testament  if  practicable.  When  I  took  charge  of  the  United 
States  government  school,  in  1849,  at  the  old  manual-labor  school,  now  in  Johnson  county,  Kansas, 
I  met  Mrs.  Peery,  who  talked  the  Kaw  fluently,  and  she  often  spoke  of  their  effort  (formerly  she 
was  Mrs.  Wm.  Johnson)  to  write  the  Kaw  language,  and  stated  that  she  and  her  husband  de- 
cided that  the  twenty-six  letters  of  the  English  alphabet  could  not  spell  the  words  of  that  lan- 
guage, and  that  they  would  have  to  use  characters  to  represent  words,  and  so  they  gave  up  the 
idea  of  translating  the  religious  songs. 

"They  probably  did  print  a  small  amount  of  matter  to  test  it.      I  have  no  thought  that  there 
exists  now  or  ever  did  exist  any  more  than  some  manuscripts  of  this  kind.    Should  there  be  any- 
thing of  this  kind  in  existence  at  present,  it  might  be  found  in  the  Chick  families  of  Kansas  City. 
Truly  yours,  Thomas  S.  Huffaker." 

The  chief  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  wrote  as  follows: 

"Washington,  D.  C.  April  27,  1907. 

"Dear  Sir:— I  beg  leave  to  say  that  the  question  of  the  book  in  the  Kauzau  language  to 
which  McCoy  in  his  History  of  Baptist  Indian  Missions  alludes,  has  been  looked  into  carefully, 
but  no  trace  of  it  has  been  found.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  a  small  religious  work  in  the  Kansa 
language  was  published  at  the  Shawnee  Mission,  and  that,  having  a  purely  local  circulation,  it  did 
not  find  its  way  into  eastern  libraries  at  that  time,  but  was  practically  consumed  through  use  by 
the  Indians.  No  such  book  is  noted  by  Pilling,  who  is  eminent  for  his  completeness.  Neverthe- 
less I  have  instituted  further  search,  and  if  any  light  can  be  thrown  on  the  matter  I  shall  be 
glad  to  inform  you.  Yours  very  truly,  F.  W.  Hodge,  Acting  Chief." 


44  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

that  tribe.  The  language  of  these  two  tribes  was  really  the  same— only  a 
slight  difference  in  dialect. 

Probably  the  efforts  with  the  Kansa  in  their  language  would  have  been 
more  successful  had  the  good  work  of  Missionary  Johnson  been  subsequently 
continued  and  supported  with  the  same  zeal  and  patience  used  with  the 
Osages  and  other  tribes. 

The  Kansa  language  never  had  a  fair  test  and  should  not  be  condemned 
along  with  the  tribe  as  incapable  of  helping  it  to  a  higher  state  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  has  always  been  the  fashion  for  writers  to  belittle  the  character  of 
this  tribe  and  its  language,  and  make  unfair  comparisons  with  other  tribes 
whose  advantages  were  far  better,  and  whose  language  had  been  used  ex- 
tensively in  various  publications. 

THE  KANSA  LANGUAGE. 

While  I  have  secured  considerable  material  concerning  the  Kansa  lan- 
guage, I  will  only  make  a  few  general  observations  in  this  paper  on  the 
subject. 

There  are  some  sixty  different  Indian  languages  in  North  America  north 
of  Mexico,  which  are  as  different  from  each  other  as  French  and  German. 
These  languages  are  divided  into  some  eight  hundred  dialects.37  I  >f  the 
sixty  distinct  languages,  five-sixths  of  them  were  found  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  covering  only  one-tenth  of  the  territory,  while  the  others  belonged 
to  the  tribes  spread  over  the  larger  area  of  nine-tenths  of  North  America 
east  of  the  Rockies.  Among  the  latter  are  found  the  great  Siouan  family, 
composed  of  sixty-eight  tribes,  of  which  Kansa  is  a  member. 

Five  of  these  Siouan  tribes  form  a  group,  speaking  really  the  same  lan- 
guage in  four  dialects:  (1)  Ponka  and  Omaha,  known  as  Ponca,  (2)  Kansa, 
<3)  Osage,  and  (4)  Kwapa. 


NOTE. 

The  present  reservation  of  the  tribe  in  Oklahoma  consists  of  over  one 
hundred  thousand  acres.  It  was  set  aside  for  their  use  in  1872,  having  been 
purchased  from  the  Osage  nation  soon  after  it  had  been  bought  from  the 
Cherokees  by  the  Osages.  It  cost  seventy  cents  per  acre.  The  land  is  all 
in  use  for  farming  or  grazing  purposes  and  brings  in  considerable  revenue. 
The  general  condition  of  the  tribe  has  improved  for  some  years  past,  and 
much  enterprise  was  manifested  in  arranging  the  allotment  of  this  reserva- 
tion among  the  individual  members  of  the  tribe. 

On  July  1st,  1902,  the  last  treaty  agreement  and  memorial  to  Congress 
was  ratified.  It  was  a  formal  agreement  among  themselves  for  the  division 
of  the  tribal  lands  and  funds,  and  a  general  closing  up  of  the  business  mat- 
ters of  the  nation  with  the  United  States.  Under  this  agreement  there  was 
set  aside  for  each  member  a  homestead  of  160  acres,  inalienable  and  non- 
taxable for  twenty-five  years.  In  addition  to  this  homestead,  each  member 
of  the  tribe  receives  about  300  acres  which  cannot  be  sold  or  encumbered  for 
a  period  of  ten  years.  The  division  of  the  tribal  funds  gave  each  member 
about  one  thousand  dollars,  to  be  paid  in  ten  instalments.  This  treaty  also 
provided  for  an  Indian  boarding-school  at  the  expense  of  the  government. 

In  this  treaty  the  tribe  was  ably  represented  by  the  following  noted 
members  of  the  tribe  :  Wah-shun-gah,  the  chief ;  Wan-  moh-o-e-ke,  Forest 
Chouteau,  Mitchel  Fronkier,  William  Hardy,  Achan  Pappan,  and  "General" 
W.  E.  Hardy.  Achan  Pappan  was  the  interpreter  and  General  Hardy  the 
secretary  of  the  tribe,  positions  they  have  held  for  many  years. 


Famous  Kaw  Chiefs. 


1.  Al-le-ga-wa-ho ;    2.   Kah-he-ga-wa-ti-an-gah,  known  as  the  "Fool  Chief  ": 
3.   Wah-ti-an-gah. 


Ah-ke-tah-shin-gah,  a  Typical  Indian  Brave. 


ALONG  THE  KAW  TRAIL. 

An  address  by  Geo.  P.  Morehouse,  of  Council  Grove,  before  the  twenty-eighth  annual  meeting 
of  the  State  Historical  Society,  December  1,  1903. 

"Where  late  the  savage  hid  in  ambush  lay, 
Or  roamed  the  uncultured  valleys  for  his  prey, 
Her  hardy  gifts  rough  industry  extends, 
The  groves  bow  down,  the  lofty  forest  bends; 
And  see,  the  spires  of  towns  and  cities  rise, 
And  domes  and  temples  swell  into  the  skies ! " 

^T^HE  history  of  most  of  the  overland  highways  of  the  West  has  been  written. 
-*■  Being  the  routes  of  freighting,  mail  and  express  lines,  white  men  know  all 
about  them.  Some  of  the  border  tribes  had  well-defined  trails  over  which  they 
passed  to  and  from  their  hunting-grounds  and  to  engage  in  warfare.  One  of  the 
most  important  and  well  known  of  these  was  the  Kaw  Indian  trail,  which  trav- 
ersed what  is  now  included  in  the  counties  of  Morris,  Marion,  McPherson,  and 
Rice.  Living  for  many  years  on  this  trail,  in  the  southwest  part  of  Morris  county, 
when  a  boy,  and  daily  crossing  or  following  along  portions  of  its  course,  makes  me 
fairly  familiar  with  its  history  and  use,  and,  when  in  doubt,  can  ascertain  the  facts 
from  old  settlers,  who  have  lived  in  Morris  county  since  the  '40's,  and  who  have 
the  fullest  knowledge  of  all  the  movements  of  that  peculiar  tribe  of  Indians. 
Some  have  erroneously  traced  its  course  south  from  the  Kaw  reservation  across 
Chase  county,  and  on  to  the  Arkansas.  The  real  Kaw  trail,  and  the  only  one  the 
Kaws  and  our  old-timers  knew  about,  is  still  visible  in  many  places,  and  was 
started  and  used  under  the  following  circumstances :  The  Kaw  or  Kansas  Indians 
lived  for  a  long  time  in  the  Kaw  valley  east  of  the  present  city  of  Manhattan.  In 
1847  they  were  moved  to  a  reservation  in  the  Neosho  valley,  adjoining  Council 
Grove.  Their  three  villages  were  down  the  river,  and  the  Indian  agency,  the 
buildings  of  which  still  stand,  was  near  the  mouth  of  Big  John  creek,  about  four 
miles  from  Council  Grove. 

They  had  three  separate  villages,  governed  in  a  manner  by  three  chiefs.  Al- 
ie-ga-wa-ho,  for  many  years  their  wisest  leader,  a  man  over  six  feet  tall  and  noted 
as  an  eloquent  Indian  orator,  presided  at  the  village  located  on  Cahola  creek. 
Kah-he-ga-wa-ti-an-gah,  the  "fool  chief,"  governed  the  village  near  the  present 
site  of  the  town  of  Dunlap.  Wah-ti-an-gah  held  forth  as  chief  at  the  village 
near  the  official  agency.  The  "fool  chief"  was  usually  the  hereditary  principal 
chief,  and  it  was  a  high  and  honorable  title.  Originally  it  was  obtained  by  some 
remarkable  act  of  bravery,  daring,  Indian  prowess,  even  to  being  rash  and  fool- 
hardy;  hence  the  term.  The  "fool  chief  "only  maintained  his  distinction  by  con- 
tinued personal  courage,  generosity,  and  good  conduct,  and  also  by  being  wise  in 
counsel. 

Annually  the  Kaws  went  hunting  out  to  the  great  imperial  pasture-grounds 
of  the  buffalo,  and  going  back  and  forth  wore  a  well-defined  trail.  It  started 
from  their  headquarters,  near  the  mouth  of  Big  John  creek,  four  miles  southeast 
of  Council  Grove,  and  bore  almost  west,  a  little  southwest,  crossing  Diamond 
creek  within  a  few  rods  of  the  present  site  of  the  railway  station  at  Diamond 
Springs.  It  entered  Marion  county  near  the  old  post-office  of  Bethel,  on  the  head 
of  Middle  creek,  and  not  far  from  the  present  site  of  the  town  of  Lincolnville. 
From  there  it  passed  westward  through  Marion  county  and  almost  through  the 


Z  KANSAS    STATE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

center  of  McPherson  county,  and  on  to  the  forks  of  Cow  creek,  about  three  miles 
south  of  the  present  town  of  Lyons,  near  the  center  of  Rice  county.  This  was  its 
western  terminus,  and  for  many  years  right  in  the  heart  of  the  finest  buffalo- 
hunting  country,  which,  for  a  long  time,  by  common  consent,  was  given  up  to 
the  use  of  the  Kaws. 

Here  they  established  their  camp,  pitched  their  teepees,  dried  their  meat,  and 
cured  their  furs  and  robes.  The  Kaws  were  great  on  "buffalo  jerk"  and  pre- 
pared large  quantities  at  their  Cow  creek  camping-grounds.  This  was  done  by 
stripping  or  jerking  buffalo  meat  into  convenient  strips,  which  were  cured  with- 
out salt  in  the  sun  and  dry  atmosphere  of  that  region,  by  hanging  on  slender 
poles  supported  by  forked  sticks.  It  was  quite  an  article  of  commerce  and,  baled 
up  and  packed  home  on  ponies,  frequently  came  into  the  hands  of  white  men. 
My  boyish  tastes  thought  a  piece  of  buffalo  jerk  was  a  toothsome  morsel  while 
riding  around  or  hunting.  They  went  out  over  this  trail  in  early  fall,  many  tak- 
ing their  families,  and  often  stayed  all  winter. 

One  of  the  reasons  for  going  out  to  the  rich  buffalo-grass  region  was  to  winter 
their  ponies;  for  the  blue  stem  prairie-grass  of  Morris  county  was  poor  pasture 
after  the  fall  frosts.  Some  returned  late  in  fall,  their  pack  ponies  laden  with 
fresh  and  dried  meat,  for  the  U6e  of  those  of  the  tribe  who  had  remained  at  home. 
The  fresh  buffalo  saddles  were  often  brought  in  with  the  skin  on  to  keep  them 
clean.  Frequently,  friendly  white  men  went  along  to  hunt  and  trade,  and 
brought  back  meat  and  furs.  In  this  way  the  Kaw  trail  became,  to  a  degree, 
a  wagon  road,  and  it  was  used  as  such  for  several  years,  until  blocked  by  the 
fences  of  the  settlers.  It  was  a  very  direct  route  in  its  direction,  and  finally  the 
old  star  mail  route  between  Council  Grove  and  Marion  (Center)  used  this  trail 
over  much  of  its  course.  This  supplied  the  early  post-offices  of  Hill  Spring, 
Diamond  Springs,  Bethel,  Lincolnville,  and  some  others. 

The  Diamond  Springs  post-office  mentioned  is  not  the  famous  Diamond 
Springs  on  the  Santa  Fe  trail  at  the  head  of  Diamond  creek,  but  the  post-office 
five  miles  below,  and  near  the  present  village  of  Diamond  Springs. 

This  not  being  understood  has  caused  mistaken  ideas  as  to  the  course  and 
crossing-place  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail  and  Kaw  trail  over  Diamond  creek. 

The  Kaws  might  have  traveled  to  and  from  their  Cow  creek  hunting-grounds 
on  the  Santa  Fe  trial,  but  they  wanted  a  road  of  their  own.  Their  trail  was 
almost  parallel  with  that  noted  highway,  from  three  to  six  miles  south,  but  over 
a  more  broken  country.  It  was  more  direct,  for  the  Santa  Fe  trail  wound 
around  to  keep  on  the  higher  divides,  while  the  Kaw  trail  was  almost  "as 
straight  as  the  crow  flies,"  going  up  and  down  hills,  across  sharp  ridges,  when  a 
slight  detour  would  have  avoided  heavy  pulls.  We  often  wondered  why  these 
Indians  were  so  set  on  keeping  in  this  ' '  straight  and  narrow  path ' '  over  the  rough- 
est ground,  when  smoother  land  was  to  the  north.  A  ruler  placed  on  a  map  of 
Kansas,  one  end  about  three  miles  south  of  Council  Grove  and  the  other  end 
about  three  miles  south  of  Lyons,  indicates  very  closely  the  exact  course  of  this 
trail.  It  was  not  a  single  path,  but  in  places  the  ground  was  cut  up  for  a  rod  or 
two  in  width,  and  had  many  evidences  of  long  usage. 

We  used  to  find  sundry  relics  along  this  trail,  for  the  Indians  were  not 
exempt  from  losing  things. 

Few  of  the  Kaws  ever  had  first-class  firearms  of  any  sort  to  hunt  with.  Their 
rifles  were  single-barrel,  muzzle-loading,  and  of  inferior  grade.  While  most  of 
them  had  rifles,  I  have  seen  them  go  on  these  hunts  armed  with  only  their  trusty 
bow  and  arrows  and  belt  knife.     I  never  doubted  their  ability  to  kill  the  buffalo 


ALONG   THE    KAW   TRAIL.  6 

with  these  simple-looking  bows  and  little  arrows  after  witnessing  them  kill  a 
number  of  wild  Texas  cows  in  that  primitive  manner. 

The  Kaws  were  not  noted  for  the  best  breed  of  ponies,  but  it  was  always  said 
that  when  they  returned  from  these  western  trips  they  had  usually  greatly  im- 
proved their  stock,  bringing  back  some  fine  specimens,  whether  by  trading  or  at 
the  expense  of  the  Cheyennes  or  other  Indians  the  deponent  saith  not.  They 
ordinarily  traveled  along  the  trail  in  single  file,  and,  when  returning,  the  pack 
ponies  reeled  under  the  weight  of  plunder  or  tugged  at  loads  borne  on  two  long 
poles  fastened  to  their  sides  and  extending  back  like  long  shafts,  dragging  on  the 
ground.  Often  on  top  of  a  load  of  fresh  or  dried  meat  a  squaw  and  pappoose 
would  be  perched,  in  all  the  glory  of  Indian  life.  The  braves  rode  the  best  ponies, 
and  some  of  them  were  beauties  and  very  hardy,  and  some  of  them  made  good 
cattle  ponies.  I  once  owned  one,  understood  to  be  a  Cheyenne  pony,  that 
could  travel  all  day  on  a  brisk  canter,  and  cover  from  seventy  to  eighty  miles 
with  ease.  The  Kaws  always  brought  back  large  quantities  of  buffalo  hides  and 
other  skins  and  furs.  A  trader  once  told  me  that  he  bought  in  one  season  nearly 
1000  buffalo  hides  from  that  tribe.  While  they  were  good  hunters,  they  never 
excelled  in  making  the  finest  robes.  A  fine  Cheyenne  robe  was  worth  as  much 
as  fifteen  dollars,  but  half  that  sum  was  a  good  price  for  a  Kaw  robe.  Traders 
often  went  out  to  their  Cow  creek  camp  to  buy  their  products,  and,  in  fact,  they 
always  liked  to  have  some  white  hunters  along,  for  it  was  a  protection  against 
trouble  from  other  tribes.  Sometimes  the  traders  would  have  some  Missouri 
apples,  and  the  going  rate  was  a  red  apple  for  a  muskrat  skin. 

Indians  were  great  lovers  of  apples,  and  my  brother  once  traded  a  double- 
handful  for  a  fine  pair  of  beaded  moccasins. 

At  first,  when  some  of  the  early  settlers  fenced  the  bottom  lands,  through 
which  the  Kaw  trail  passed,  the  Indians  resented  it  and  summarily  destroyed 
the  fences  and  passed  on.  They  felt  that  this  old  pathway  was  sacred  and  no 
one  had  a  right  to  obstruct  it.  They  said:  "  Have  we  not  used  it  these  many 
years,  long  before  the  white  man  appeared,  and  is  it  not  ours  ?  Along  this  trail 
are  scattered  the  graves  of  our  departed  kindred  and  some  of  the  great  and  wise 
men  of  our  tribe.  Does  this  not  give  us  the  first  right,  and  is  there  not  room 
for  the  white  man's  field,  without  saying  to  the  Indian,  '  You  must  not  pass 
along  the  old  trail  of  your  fathers  ?  '  " 

I  often  noticed  these  graves,  usually  on  the  top  of  some  near  bluff  or  high 
ground,  and  they  were  often  covered  with  slabs  of  limestone,  and  invariably,  the 
bones  of  the  pony  that  was  sacrificed  at  the  burial  marked  the  spot.  In  many 
places  along  this  trail,  on  the  highest  points  they  had  erected  crude  monuments, 
piles  of  rock  which  were  visible  for  a  long  distance.  This  was  done  when  the 
trail  was  first  used,  in  order  to  direct  the  proper  course.  These,  with  some  of 
the  marked  graves,  will  soon  be  all  that  will  indicate  its  location  and  history  ;  for 
most  of  the  inhabitants  along  its  route  know  little  or  nothing  about  it. 

When  the  Cheyennes,  under  Little  Robe,  in  1868,  made  their  famous  raid  into 
Morris  county  to  fight  the  Kaws,  they  followed  over  most  of  this  trail  in  coming 
and  going.  For  several  years  after  the  Indians  left,  the  settlers  used  the  trail 
as  a  starting-point  to  burn  back-fires  against  the  consuming  prairie  conflagra- 
tions so  destructive  in  those  days.  After  and  even  before  the  Kaws  were  re- 
moved to  the  territory,  in  1873,  it  was  often  the  route  of  some  of  the  great  cattle 
drives  which  used  to  be  made  to  Council  Grove  from  the  West ;  for  this  trail  had 
better  grass  and  water  along  it  than  the  Santa  Fe  trail.  From  the  Kaw  reserva- 
tion to  their  Cow  creek  camp  was  100  miles,  very  picturesque  and  varied,  cross- 
ing numerous  creeks  and  fine  watering-places,  the  principal  ones  of  which  were 


4  KANSAS    STATE    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

Four  Mile,  Diamond,  Middle,  Clear  and  Muddy  creeks,  Cottonwood  river,  Tur- 
key creek,  Little  Arkansas  river,  and  Cow  creek. 

For  many  years  the  Kaws  claimed  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Marion, 
Dickinson,  McPherson,  Saline,  Rice  and  Ellsworth  counties  as  their  exclusive 
hunting  grounds,  and  their  trouble  with  other  tribes  was  caused  because  this 
claim  waa  disputed.  At  some  of  these  creek  crossings,  where  their  most  favor- 
able camping-grounds  were  located,  their  wigwam  poles  were  often  left  standing 
in  place,  ready  for  the  skin  coverings  the  next  time  they  came  along.  This  saved 
them  work  and  carrying  so  many  camp  equipments.  I  will  have  to  confess  that 
we  boys  were  wont  to  pull  them  up  and  carry  them  away  at  times. 

When  the  cavalcade  of  returning  Kaws  reached  their  home  villages  near 
Council  Grove,  great  was  their  reception  by  those  who  had  remained  at  home. 
It  meant  a  feast  of  fat  things — buffalo  meat  (fresh  and  dried),  venison  steaks  and 
stews.  It  meant  buffalo-robes,  deer  and  wolf  skins,  and  other  peltries,  to  be  sold 
or  wrought  into  needed  garments  and  coverings.  Besides,  there  was  a  sort  of 
general  rejoicing  by  the  entire  tribe,  that  the  hunters  had  been  prospered  with 
success  and  safely  returned  to  their  secure  and  comfortable  lodges  along  the  tim- 
ber-lined banks  of  the  sheltering  Neosho.  After  the  usual  Indian  salutations, 
the  robes,  skins  and  meats  were  properly  stored  or  hung  up  for  use.  Later  on 
some  of  these  would  be  brought  to  Council  Grove  and  traded  for  those  supplies 
which  they  craved.  This  home-coming  of  the  hunters  soon  wrought  up  the  entire 
village  into  a  perfect  hubbub  of  excitement.  Powwows,  great  and  small,  were 
held,  and  all  the  experiences  of  the  hunt  related  in  detail,  embellished  with  the 
most  vivid  and  boastful  language,  and  it  was  the  opportunity  for  some  of  their 
peculiar  dances. 

Those  braves  who  had  performed  special  acts  of  prowess  or  skill  in  the  chase, 
or  perchance  in  any  personal  encounter  with  their  old  enemies,  the  Cheyennes  or 
Pawnees,  were  given  prominent  seats  in  the  council  circle,  and  some  soon  became 
so  puffed  up  with  their  importance  that  they  strutted  about  the  villages,  and 
even  up  to  Council  Grove,  bragging  of  their  valor,  and  received  the  plaudits  of 
the  tribe. 

The  Kaws  had  three  principal  dances  — sun-dance,  dog-dance,  and  war-dance. 
These  dances  all  had  their  particular  seasons  and  significance.  The  sun- 
dance  was  always  given  out-of-doors,  and  had  indications  of  religious  origin. 
Originally  it  was  in  honor  of  the  "sun  hero,"  a  god  only  inferior  to  the  Great 
Spirit,  their  Manitou  or  Waconda,  who  was  "the  great  ghost  of  heaven  and 
highest  wind  god,"  in  the  parlance  of  the  Indians,  and  the  god  to  whom  all  other 
spirits,  as  the  sun  hero  and  moon  goddess,  were  always  subordinate.  The  sun- 
dance  was  circular,  as  most  all  their  dances,  and  was  accompanied  by  the  usual 
music,  weird  songs,  and  grotesque  movements,  but  they  were  not  dressed  up 
in  the  hideous  costumes  worn  at  the  dog-dance  or  the  great  war-dance.  Squaws 
often  took  part  in  the  sun-dance  in  some  of  its  modifications,  and  were  properly 
gowned  for  the  high  occasion.  Their  faces  were  brilliant  with  vermilion,  yellow, 
and  green,  while  their  robes,  leggings  and  dresses  scintillated  with  a  unique  passe- 
menterie of  bright  beads  and  skilfully  wrought  quill  and  quail-bone  work. 
Their  taper  arms  were  decorated  with  circles  of  shining  brass  bracelets  and  rings 
of  silver,  while  shells  and  other  ornaments  dangled  from  their  dusky  ears.  All 
the  dress  toggery  and  showy  valuables  and  heirlooms  of  the  tribe  were  donned  in 
richest  profusion  by  way  of  personal  adornment.  The  Kaws  were  always  noted 
for  being  able  to  unpack  and  display  a  great  wealth  of  dress  ornaments,  some  of 
which  had  been  handed  down  in  the  tribe  for  generations. 

The  most  handsome  natural  adornment  of  the  squaws  was  their  jet-black 


Group  of  Kaw  Indians  in  fall  dress.    Wa-mun-ka-wa-sha,  with  shield  ;  Sha-ga-in-ka,  with  horns 
Margaret  Ma-huD-gah,  with  pappoose,  belle  of  the  Kaws. 


ALONG   THE    KAW   TRAIL.  5 

hair,  parted  in  the  middle  over  their  heads  and  down  to  their  necks  behind,  and 
ending  in  two  beautiful  braids  of  black. 

Round  and  round  the  circle  they  moved,  in  single  and  double  lines,  and  at 
times  their  movements  were  not  unlike  the  dances  of  the  whites. 

Forward,  around  the  circle  by  couples  they  would  go;  then  the  braves  would 
move  backward  with  shuffling  step  and  squaws  and  girls  would  follow,  and  vice 
versa,  while  through  it  all  were  the  monotone  songs  and  the  drumming  notes  of 
the  Indian  tambourines. 

The  dog  dance  was  often  given  in  honor  of  visitors,  and  in  many  ways  was 
nothing  more  than  a  war- dance  of  modified  and  abbreviated  form. 

They  were  not  as  particular  to  dress  in  such  fanciful  aDd  hideous  costumes 
as  in  the  war-dance,  but  often  made  as  much  noise.  None  but  braves  took  part 
in  the  dog-dance,  which  at  times  was  performed  in  the  largest  lodges,  but  usu- 
ally outside,  and  always  around  a  fire. 

They  would  rush  into  a  lodge  containing  strangers  with  such  fierce  yells  that 
it  was  frightful  to  hear.  After  shrill  songs,  they  performed  the  circular  move- 
ment to  the  music  of  rattles,  drums,  and  the  Indian  flutes  or  whistles.  After  they 
had  exhausted  themselves,  they  rushed  out  and  away  as  suddenly  as  they  came, 
and  it  was  all  over  for  that  day. 

The  Kaws  on  these  occasions  had  three  musical  instruments  —  the  usual  tom- 
tom or  drum,  strings  of  rattles,  and  the  flute  or  whistle. 

The  drums  were  really  enlarged  forms  of  tambourines,  made  of  a  wooden 
frame,  over  which,  on  one  end,  was  stretched  prepared  green  buffalo  hide,  which, 
when  dried  and  properly  pounded  with  a  stick,  sent  forth  sonorous  and  stirring 
sounds.  Strings  of  dried  deer's  feet  were  used  as  rattles,  but  the  best  were  the 
gourd  rattles.  These  were  made  by  taking  small  dried  gourds  and  by  placing 
bullets  or  pebbles  inside,  and  when  deftly  shaken  produced  a  quick,  rattling 
sound,  which  was  peculiar  to  the  castanets  of  these  primitive  people.  The  Kaws 
made  and  used  a  wind  instrument,  a  sort  of  Indian  flute,  and  some  were  deft  in 
executing  a  subdued  music  for  the  more  plaintive  and  weird  parts  of  their  dances 
and  ceremonies. 

By  far  the  most  interest  attached  to  the  great  war-  or  scalp-dance,  for  in  this 
ceremony  entered  the  strongest  emotions  of  the  tribe.  If  some  of  the  returned 
warriors  over  the  trail  had  brought  proof  of  their  boasted  valor  —  some  fine 
ponies  or  a  few  scalp-locks  that  once  belonged  to  a  hereditary  foe  of  the  tribe, 
which  had  been  met  and  vanquished — great  was  the  rejoicing,  and  the  elements 
for  a  first-class  war-dance  existed.  As  the  day  advanced,  the  entire  tribe  seemed 
to  become  oblivious  to  everything  except  the  increasing  excitement  and  the  In- 
dian fervor  displayed.  The  chief  warriors  paraded  through  the  villages  and 
visited  the  principal  lodges.  They  were  followed  by  shouting,  singing  mobs  of 
admirers,  who  related  their  deeds  of  valor  and  chanted  their  praises.  Decrepit 
old  braves  and  squaws  came  forth  and  blessed  them,  while  the  more  active  and 
younger  squaws  prepared  a  feast  of  the  choicest  meats  for  the  heroes  of  their 
families  and  protectors  of  the  tribe. 

During  the  day  the  young  men  cut  and  piled  a  huge  pyramid  of  wood,  and  all 
preparations  were  completed  for  the  great  war-dance.  Frequently  parties  from 
Council  Grove  went  down  to  witness  the  unique  scene.  Stripped  to  the  waist, 
in  the  seclusion  of  their  lodges,  the  braves  performed  their  fantastic  toilets,  by 
painting  their  dark  skins  with  wonderful  dotted  and  striped  combinations  of 
vermilion,  yellow,  green,  and  black. 

The  Kaws  were  among  the  f-3w  tribes  whose  braves  shaved  their  heads. 
They  only  left  a  comb  or  elonyaieri  tuft  on  top  of  the  head  extending  back  over 


6  KANSAS    STATE   HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

the  scalp-lock.  Their  only  garments  were  clout,  leggings,  and  moccasins.  The 
war  head-dress  was  also  worn,  being  a  band  around  the  head,  upon  which  were 
often  attached  two  cow  horns,  and  extending  down  their  backs  a  plait  or  line  of 
turkey  or  eagle  feathers.  Some  sported  necklaces  of  bears'  claws  or  elk  teeth. 
Each  one  carried  a  full  complement  of  arms — bows  and  arrows,  lance,  and  often 
a  shield,  from  which  hung  any  prized  scalps  they  possessed.  The  measured 
tones  of  the  sounding  drums  announce  that  all  is  ready;  the  fires  are  lighted, 
and  the  hideous  painted  and  decorated  braves  come  rushing  out  of  the  lodges 
and  wigwams  with  shrieks  and  war-cries  that  none  will  ever  forget.  In  the  full 
panoply  of  all  this  hideousness,  they  quickly  gather  in  a  circle  around  the  blaz- 
ing fire.  For  a  time  they  stand  and  go  through  all  varieties  of  yells  and  mingled 
war-whoops  of  triumph  and  delight,  which  echo  along  the  valley.  The  leader  of 
the  band  raises  his  lance  and  strikes  three  times  on  the  ground  or  upon  a  shield, 
the  musicians  make  some  extra  flourishes  with  the  rattles  and  drums,  and  the 
great  war-dance  is  on  in  full  blast.  Round  and  round  the  roaring  fire  they 
circle,  now  following  each  other,  and  now  facing  the  center,  their  painted  and 
decorated  bodies  swaying  up  and  down,  in  and  out,  in  exact  time  to  the  peculiar 
rhythm  of  the  music. 

Their  odd,  hitching  step  was  a  sort  of  forward-now- backward  movement,  as  if 
they  wanted  to  advance  but  could  not — one  knee  stiff  and  the  other  bent;  and 
with  a  monotonous  regularity  they  uttered  their  war  songs,  the  principal  vocal  ac- 
companimentandcontinuousrepetitionof  which  was  "hi'  yi,  hi' -yi,"  ad  infinitum, 
with  strong  accent  on  the  first  syllable.  No  matter  how  long  the  dance  lasted, 
usually  through  the  night  and  far  into  the  following  day,  this  monotonous  utter- 
ance never  varied,  but  was,  of  course,  interspersed  with  other  shouts,  whoops, 
and  yells,  as  well  as  songs.  At  times  their  voices  seemed  to  fail,  and  the  howl- 
ings  lapsed  into  a  drone  of  measured  and  subdued  tones  and  the  chanting  songs 
ceased,  but  the  "hi'-yi,  hi'-yi,"  went  on  continuously;  neither  was  there  any  ces- 
sation of  rattling  gourds  nor  the  throbbing  and  heavy  undertones  of  the  drums 
until  the  dance  ended.  At  times  the  musicians  would  enter  the  great  circle  and 
march  round  the  fire  in  contrary  direction  to  the  moving  mass.  Now,  some  one 
would  step  out  and  chant  the  deeds  of  some  particular  brave,  and  all  the  dancers 
and  all  outside  the  charmed  circle  would  take  up  the  strain  and  renewed  excite- 
ment prevailed.  The  march  is  quickened,  the  shrill  war  whoops  rise  high  above 
the  monotonous  din,  while  the  clashing  shields  and  fluttering  scalp-locks  work 
them  again  to  a  perfect  frenzy  of  tribal  fervor,  in  which  all  engage  —  the  squaws, 
old  men,  boys,  and  maidens,  as  well  as  the  regular  dancers. 

After  a  dance  was  over  the  ground  was  marked  for  a  long  time  by  the  con- 
tinuous circling,  which  left  a  beaten  ring,  something  like  a  horse-power  or  the 
circle  of  an  abandoned  circus  ring.  The  dance  was  usually  held  in  the  shelter- 
ing opening  of  some  heavy  grove  near  the  river.  The  blazing  firelight,  the  flit- 
ting shadows  and  all  the  weird  and  mixed  variety  of  unusual  sights  and  sounds 
created  an  impression  upon  a  casual  visitor  long  to  be  remembered. 

Since  1873  the  Kaws,  few  in  number  and  slow  to  adjust  themselves  to  the 
crowding  civilization  of  the  times,  have  lived  on  a  small  reservation  in  the  In- 
dian Territory.  Few  of  their  noted  warriors  are  alive,  but  occasionally  small 
bands  of  the  tribe  or  solitary  individuals  visit  the  Neosho  valley  and  recall  the 
scenes  of  other  days.  They  stoically  survey  the  changes  around  their  former 
homes.  The  sites  of  their  three  villages  are  now  covered  by  highly  cultivated 
farms,  and  where  their  permanent  lodges  and  decorated  teepees  once  stood  the 
comfortable  homes  of  the  present  owners  of  the  fee  embellish  the  landscape. 
The  graves  of  their  ancestors  and  the  course  of  the  trail  in  the  valley  are  leveled 


ALONG   THE    KAW    TRAIL.  7 

and  obliterated  by  the  mold  and  cultivation  of  years.  However,  for  many  miles 
west  of  their  old  reservation  it  is  plainly  visible,  and  in  the  large  pastures  and 
on  some  of  the  near-by  prairie  slopes  may  yet  be  found  the  graveyards  of  the 
tribe.  These  they  can  visit,  and  travel  for  a  few  miles  along  their  old-time  high- 
way. But  where  is  Kah-he-ga-wa-ti-an-gah,  their  great  ."fool  chief"  and  brave 
warrior?  Where  is  Al-le-ga-wa-ho,  for  years  their  head  chief  and  the  most  elo- 
quent and  entertaining  Indian  orator  of  his  times  ?  Where  are  Wah-ti  an-gah,  the 
good  chief,  and  old  Na-he-da-ba  and  Shon-gane-gah,  and  other  braves  and  wise 
men  of  the  tribe  ? 

They  have  passed  over  the  trail  for  the  last  time,  and  live  in  peace  on  the  rich 
ranges  of  the  happy  hunting-grounds. 

No  more  they  sit  by  council  fires 

And  praise  the  prowess  of  their  sires. 

No  dusky  maiden  now  is  seen ; 

The  valley  blooms  the  hills  between. 

Where  once  the  Indian  village  shone, 

A  city  proud  with  spires  has  grown ; 
*    Where  once  they  chased  the  panting  deer, 

Neosho's  fields  the  farmers  cheer. 

On  these  visits  they  are  carried  back  to  those  old  days  when  this  trail  trav- 
ersed the  delightful  little  valleys  and  over  the  wide,  expanding  prairies,  then 
untouched  by  man,  but  luxuriant  with  carpets  of  grass  and  decorated  with  in- 
describable loveliness  of  innumerable  varieties  of  smiling  flowers.  They  remem- 
ber their  old  haunts  and  the  beauties  of  those  primitive  scenes,  just  as  they  came 
from  the  hand  of  nature,  and  when  it  could  be  said : 

"Breezes  of  the  south  !     Ye  have  played 
Among  the  palms  of  Mexico  and  vines 
Of  Texas,  and  have  crisped  the  limpid  brooks 
That  from  the  fountains  of  Sonora  glide 
Into  the  calm  Pacific.     Have  ye  fanned 
A  nobler  or  lovelier  scene  than  this? 
The  hand  that  built  the  firmament  hath  heaved 
And  smoothed  these  verdant  swells  and  sown  their  slopes 
With  herbage  —a  fitting  floor 
For  this  magnificent  temple  of  the  sky  — 
With  flowers  whose  glory  and  whose  multitude 
Rival  the  constellations." 


A  FAMOUS  OLD  CROSSING  ON  THE  SANTA  FE  TRAIL. 

From  an  address  by  Geo.  P.   Morehouse,*  of   Council  Grove,  before  the   State 
Historical  Society,  at  its  twenty-eighth  annual  meeting,  December  1,  1903. 

'T^HE  great  flood  of  1903,  which  washed  away  the  Main  street  bridge  over  the 
-*-  Neosho  river  at  Council  Grove,  has  called  attention  to  this  famous  crossing 
of  the  old  Santa  Fe  trail  over  that  stream.  This  bridge  marked  the  exact  loca- 
tion, and  the  city  has  always  preserved  a  convenient  passway  down  the  river 
banks  to  the  fine  rock-bottom  ford,  that  stock  and  teams  could  go  over  in  the 
old  way.  This  is  right  in  the  center  of  the  town,  and  has  always  been  a  splendid 
watering-place,  noted  as  such  long  before  the  time  of  the  white  man. 

The  three  spans  of  this  bridge  were  destroyed  on  the  night  of  May  28,  1903, 
when  two-thirds  of  Council  Grove  were  flooded  by  a  sudden  and  protracted  rise 
of  the  river,  several  feet  higher  than  recorded  by  the  oldest  settler.  The  tradi- 
tion of  the  Kaws,  who  lived  here  from  1847  till  1873,  that  "once  the  valley  was 
washed  from  hills  to  hills"  was  verified,  but  no  one  dreamed  of  a  wave  of  water 
high  enough  to  carry  off  this  strong  structure  and  to  flood  every  business  house 
in  the  city.  The  Kaws  used  to  tell  of  this  tradition,  and  say  "White  man  heap 
big  fool  to  build  big  house  near  river,"  and  for  a  time  last  spring  we  thought 
they  were  correct. 

Nothing  much  remains  of  this  bridge  except  the  abutments  and  piers,  which 
stand  as  mute  monuments  of  not  only  the  power  of  the  highest  water  ever  known, 
but  also  a  very  noted  spot  in  the  history  of  Kansas.  The  first  structure  was  of 
heavy  oak  timber,  sawed  out  of  the  original  "council  grove,"  and  was  built 
some  forty  years  ago,  and  was  for  a  time  a  toll-bridge,  and  known  as  the  only 
bridge  this  far  west  in  the  state.  When  a  boy,  I  remember  the  old  oak  bridge 
leaned  fully  two  feet  down  stream  before  it  was  finally  taken  down.  In  early 
days  it  furnished  a  convenient  scaffold  from  which  to  drop  those  sentenced  to 
death  by  the  court  of  Judge  Lynch,  which  often  held  sessions  here.  The  last 
execution  to  take  place  here  was  during  the  winter  of  1866-'67.  Jack  McDowell 
was  a  noted  horse- thief  and  outlaw  from  Missouri,  and  understood  to  have  been 
with  Quantrill  at  Lawrence  and  on  other  expeditions,  but  his  career  of  crime 
came  to  an  ignominious  end  at  this  spot.     As  a  suspicious  character  he  lounged 

*  George  Pierson  Morehouse  was  born  at  Decatur,  111.,  July  28,  1859.  His  father,  Horace 
Morehouse,  is  still  living,  at  the  age  of  78,  a  retired  merchant  and  farmer.  He  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois.  The  mother  was  Lavinia  F.  Strong,  the  daughter 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Elder  John  Strong,  who  came  from  England 
in  1630,  in  the  good  ship  Mary  and  John,  and  founded  Northampton,  Mass.  The  family  came  to 
Kansas  in  1871,  and  opened  a  stock  farm  at  Diamond  Springs,  in  Morris  county.  George  P. 
Morehouse  started  his  life  in  the  rough  and  tumble  of  ranch  life.  His  first  expense  money  for 
school-books  was  obtained  from  the  sale  of  fur  skins  and  wolf  pelts.  He  went  to  Albion,  New 
York,  Academy,  graduating  in  1884,  and  he  also  became  academic  graduate  of  the  University  of 
New  York.  Here  he  won  three  prizes.  He  began  the  study  of  law  in  New  York,  but  returned 
home,  and  managed  the  ranch  for  two  years,  which  is  still  owned  by  himself  and  brother,  fin- 
ishing legal  preparation  at  Council  Grove.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1889,  and  served  six 
years  as  city  attorney  of  Council  Grove  and  county  attorney  of  Morris  county.  He  was  elected 
state  senator  from  the  twenty-third  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Chase,  Marion,  and 
Morris.  He  is  the  author  of  the  law  making  the  sunflower  the  state  flower,  and  of  the  first  leg- 
islation regulating  automobiles;  an  active  advocate  of  manual  training,  and  other  reforms  in 
our  systems  of  education  and  taxation.  He  is  a  bachelor,  of  the  law  firm  of  Morehouse  & 
Crowley,  Council  Grove,  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  a  Modern  Woodman,  and  a 
Knight  of  Pythias. 


2  KANSAS   STATE   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

around  town  for  several  days,  and  then  stole  the  best  span  of  horses  in  the  valley. 
He  was  tracked  into  Nebraska  by  the  owner,  William  Pollard,  who  took  with 
him  the  sheriff  of  Morris  county.  They  took  no  chances  of  delay,  but  brought 
him  back  without  a  requisition,  a  formality  too  slow  for  that  time.  To  track  a 
horse- thief  or  prairie  outlaw  then  was  far  different  than  now,  assisted  as  the  offi- 
cers are  by  thickly  settled  country,  railways,  telegraphs,  telephones,  and  so  many 
means  of  communication  and  interception. 

McDowell  seemed  to  have  some  confederates  or  friends  right  in  town,  who 
made  a  demonstration  for  his  rescue  and  secretly  furnished  him  with  arms.  It 
failed,  however,  and  two  well-known  citizens  were  given  "six  hours  to  sell  out, 
pack  up,  go,  and  never  return,"  a  frequent  order  by  the  mysterious  "committee 
of  safety."  They  promptly  obeyed  orders.  While  preparations  were  being  made 
for  "the  preliminary,"  that  he  might  be  "bound  over  to  the  district  court,"  he 
was  confined  in  the  old  log  guard-house.  It  was  a  long  time  to  the  spring  term 
of  court,  and  McDowell  became  so  violent  in  his  abuse  and  unspeakable  execra- 
tion of  his  captors,  the  town,  and  its  leading  citizens,  whom  he  threatened  with 
all  kinds  of  vengeance  in  the  future,  and  so  openly  boasted  of  his  numerous  kill- 
ings, that  it  became  unbearable  "to  the  peace  and  quiet "  of  the  old  town.  "After 
due  deliberation,"  so  called,  it  was  thought  best  summarily  to  dispose  of  him  and 
not  wait  for  the  next  term  of  court  to  send  him  to  the  pen.  This  decision  was 
hastened  by  rumors  that  some  of  his  old-time  friends  were  coming  with  a  band  of 
rescuers.  One  cold,  bright  moonlight  Saturday  night  after  business  hours,  the 
"inner  council"  of  the  committee  of  safety  assembled  as  executioners  and  took 
him  down  Main  street  to  the  old  bridge,  with  a  convenient  rope  coiled  around  his 
neck.  The  loose  end  was  properly  fastened  to  an  extended  cross-beam,  and  Mc- 
Dowell was  duly  rolled  off  into  eternity.  When  he  saw  that  his  end  was  near  he 
became  very  meek  and  begged  for  delay,  and  confessed  his  many  crimes  as  a 
heartless  outlaw  and  thoroughly  bad  man  that  he  was.  His  body  was  left  hang- 
ing for  a  day  from  this  prominent  place,  as  a  warning  to  others. 

This  old  wooden  structure  was  replaced  by  an  iron  bridge,  which,  having  no 
walk-way,  was  converted  into  three  country  bridges,  and  the  fine  structure  re- 
cently destroyed  was  erected.  Since  the  May  flood,  the  river  has  been  crossed 
in  the  old  way  of  early  trail  days,  and  frequently  this  summer  was  too  high,  and 
wagon  and  passenger  traffic  between  east  and  west  Council  Grove  has  been  car- 
ried on  with  much  difficulty,  giving  good  examples  of  the  many  trials  experi- 
enced in  overland  teaming  when  this  was  one  of  the  most  noted  highways  in 
America. 

The  extremes  to  which  men  would  go  in  old  times  to  get  their  wagon-trains 
across  this  spot  is  noted  in  the  following  account  recently  related  to  me  by  an 
old-timer  :  Pawnee  Bill  was  a  rancher  and  freighter,  and,  with  a  long  train  of 
empty  wagons  going  east,  he  was  detained  at  this  crossing  by  continued  high 
water.  Becoming  restless  at  the  delay,  he  ordered  his  men  to  chain  all  wagon- 
boxes  to  the  gears  and  prepare  to  advance.  The  Mexican  "greasers,"  not  given 
to  such  iolent  baths,  objected,  and  started  a  mutiny.  He  ridiculed  them  as 
cowards  and  children,  and  said  "all  such  could  crawl  in  the  high  wagons  and 
ride,  but  brave  men  would  ride  and  drive  oxen  or  swim  along  with  them,"  as  he 
would. 

He  set  the  example  by  forcing  the  head  outfit,  a  wagon  drawn  by  five  yoke  of 
oxen,  into  the  mad  current,  and  arrived  safely  across.  He  was  an  expert  swim- 
mer, and  would  go  along  the  side  of  the  oxen,  punching  them  and  urging  them 
on  with  terrific  yells,  now  on  one  side,  and  would  even  dive  under  the  floating 
mass  and  come  up  on  the  other  side  to  urge  them  along.     The  entire  train  fol- 


ON   THE    SANTA   FE    TRAIL.  6 

lowed,  some  "greasers"  swimming,  others  riding  oxen,  and  when  the  entire  train 
reached  the  east  side  only  two  or  three  oxen  were  drowned.  Many  other  trains 
were  stopped  that  time  by  the  high  water,  but  none  tried  the  strenuous  method 
of  fording  adopted  by  Pawnee  Bill.  The  best  view  of  this  old  crossing  is  taken 
from  the  east  abutment,  looking  west  over  the  two  piers  and  along  Main  street, 
which  bears  southwest  about  fifteen  degrees,  and  which  is  a  part  of  the  original 
surveyed  Santa  Fe  trail.  This  trail  was  used  as  a  base  line  from  which  west 
Council  Grove  was  platted,  and  hence  all  streets  are  "askew  with  the  world." 
When  the  city  was  laid  out  a  few  rough  log  and  stone  structures  had  been 
erected  along  the  trail,  and  they  were  thought  to  be  too  valuable  to  be  disturbed. 

The  Daughters  of  the  Revolution  propose  the  worthy  movement  among  the 
school  children  of  the  counties  along  this  trail  of  marking  by  lasting  monuments 
its  course  through  the  state.  It  is  being  obliterated  in  the  grain  counties,  but 
through  the  large  pastures  of  Morris  and  other  counties,  its  sod-frozen  washes, 
ruts  and  ridges  are  still  plain.  Main  street  of  Council  Grove  and  this  old 
crossing  over  the  Neosho  are  probably  the  most  prominent,  well  preserved  and 
permanent  monuments  along  this  noted  thoroughfare.  Several  business  places 
still  stand  which  date  back  to  the  old  days,  when  the  long  lines  of  white-covered, 
creaking,  lumbering  prairie  schooners,  drawn  by  oxen  or  mules,  crossed  the 
river  at  this  point,  and  rolled  past  on  their  way  to  the  far  Southwest. 

The  first  building  to  the  left  is  the  old  trail  blacksmith  shop,  right  where  the 
overland  traffic  swung  up  the  hill  into  the  broad  street,  of  the  last  outfitting 
town  and  place  where  "store  supplies"  could  be  obtained.  The  next  building 
to  the  left  is  the  old  hotel,  substantially  built  of  native  lumber,  oak  frame  and 
black  walnut  siding.  The  third  story  is  an  addition  of  this  generation.  For 
many  years  this  was  the  most  noted  man  hostelry  from  the  Missouri  river  to 
S^nta  Fe.  During  those  old  trail  days,  and  the  great  cattle  drives  of  subsequent 
times,  when  vast  herds  of  long-horn  Texas  cattle  were  driven  through  here,  it 
was  often  the  scene  of  noted  events,  dances,  "social  round-ups,"  "fandangoes," 
and  the  like,  which  early  frontier  belles  and  boys  traveled  many  miles  to  at- 
tend. Many  other  quaint  and  celebrated  business  places  still  stand,  relics  of 
those  palmy  days  when  Council  Grove  was  the  second  most  important  trading 
center  in  Kansas.  To  the  right,  set  back  from  the  street  is  the  famous  Hays 
building,  also  built  of  native  lumber,  and  which  in  some  way  once  stopped  a 
great  fire,  after  burning  a  half-block  of  brick  stores.  Up  stairs  was  the  public 
hall,  where  many  noted  old  Kansans  held  forth,  where  court  convened,  and  the- 
atricals, which  had  ventured  thus  far  west,  turned  back. 

A  block  west  of  this  crossing  was  the  "pioneer  store,"  recently  changed  some 
from  its  former  odd  proportions.  It  was  a  long,  two-story  stone  building,  with 
thick  walls,  and  was  the  "last  chance"  to  buy  neglected  supplies.  Here  the 
Kaws  and  other  Indians  traded  buffalo  robes,  deer  and  wolf  skins  and  other  pel- 
tries for  coveted  things,  and  through  its  wide  double  doors  the  festive  cowboys 
sometimes  rode  their  ponies  and  traded  with  the  astonished  clerks.  Here  every- 
thing needed  was  kept,  from  a  cambric  needle  to  a  complete  frontier  outfit,  and 
every  luxury  could  be  obtained,  from  a  cathartic  pill  to  a  cask  of  whisky.  At 
this  point  people  from  the  "effete  East,"  who  had  foolishly  worn  "biled  shirts" 
or  sported  stiff  or  plug  hats,  discarded  these  badges  of  luxury  and  purchased  re- 
liable soft  sombreros  and  hickory  or  woolen  shirts.  If  not,  they  met  trouble,  for 
it  was  a  frequent  custom  to  smash  such  hats  down  over  a  man's  ears  or  shoot 
holes  through  the  crown.  This  old  crossing,  camp-ground,  grove  and  bridge 
were  common  and  convenient  places  for  meeting  to  exchange  news,  trade  horses, 
sell  cattle,  outfit  for  the  plains,  and  gather  information  upon  all  subjects  from 


4  KANSAS    STATE    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

the  many  travelers  going  east  and  west.  A  sort  of  bureau  of  general  information 
and  trail  statistics  was  kept  of  those  who  passed,  and  even  now  passing  suspicious 
characters  are  often  noted  and  facts  gained  which  lead  to  their  destination  and 
final  capture.  It  was  an  abandoned  horse  and  buggy  crossing  here  at  midnight 
a  few  years  ago  that  gave  the  clue  and  led  to  the  capture  of  that  noted  outlaw, 
mutineer,  and  murderer,  Estelle. 

As  the  number  of  passing  wagons,  oxen,  horses,  mules  and  tons  of  merchan- 
dise in  the  trains  of  the  trail  days  was  here  noted  and  booked,  so  also  this  is  the 
place  even  to-day  where  the  length  and  character  of  modern  parades  and  proces- 
sions are  counted  and  recorded.  Few  places  in  Kansas  have  a  more  favorable 
spot  at  which  to  congregate  large  crowds  than  this  grove  and  crossing.  For 
forty  years  some  of  Kansas'  greatest  political  events  have  been  held  here  ;  events 
of  more  than  local  importance,  as  either  party  could  easily  gather  its  devotees  to 
this  Mecca,  even  from  surrounding  counties.  Spell-binders  and  sages  of  all  po- 
litical faiths  have  made  this  old  camp  ground  and  grove  echo  with  their  elo- 
quence. All  of  Kansas'  old-timers  have  been  here,  and  such  noted  outsiders  as 
George  Francis  Train,  Miss  Anthony,  Mrs.  Lucy  Stone  Blackwell  and  Elizabeth 
Cady  Stanton  were  here  in  one  season.  During  later  years  some  of  these  events 
have  brought  long  processions  over  |this  crossing,  and  it  has  been  the  custom  to 
measure  the  length  and  trount  the  teams  and  persons  passing,  and  it  is  consid- 
ered an  omen  of  victory  to  the  political  party  managing  the  longest  and  most  at- 
tractive display.  The  Democrats  will  always  boast  of  the  most  costly,  artistic 
and  well-managed  procession  and  spectacular  display,  when  Judge  John  Martin 
was  their  candidate  for  governor. 

The  longest  procession  to  pass  here,  and  the  one  that  caused  Republicans  the 
most  anxiety,  was  when,  on  a  cloudy  and  unfavorable  day,  Mrs.  Lease,  as  the 
"Joan  of  Arc,"  and  Senator  Peffer,  the  "prophet  of  Populism,"  headed  a  parade, 
with  banners  galore,  which,  for  two  long  hours,  rolled  down  the  street  and 
crossed  this  bridge.  It  had  been  quietly  worked  up,  for  no  previous  advertising 
announced  its  coming;  but  it  came  —  came  in  long  and  enthusiastic  delegations 
—  from  Morris  and  adjoining  counties,  and  was  a  prominent  mark  of  the  high 
tide  of  the  political  fervor  of  that  party.  In  some  respects,  the  grandest  and 
most  potent  political  event  ever  held  here  was  on  a  favorable  October  day  in  1891, 
an  "off  year,"  but  one  of  remarkable  political  activity.  It  was  known  as  a 
"rally  and  barbecue,"  and,  while  a  Republican  affair,  was  quite  unique  and  un- 
usual, in  that  the  "straight-out"  Democrats  favored  it,  and  to  a  degree  partici- 
pated in  cooking  the  beef  and  helping  in  the  entertainment.  This  was  in 
recognition  of  the  nomination  by  the  Republican  party  of  James  Humphrey,  of 
Junction  City,  for  district  judge.  The  "medicine  made  that  day"  and  the  good 
feeling  prevailing,  probably,  were  the  cause  of  his  election.  Fully  10,000  people 
assembled — many  from  other  counties  —  and  for  about  an  hour  and  a  half  a  pro- 
cession passed,  which  for  enthusiasm  and  patriotic  display  could  not  have  been 
excelled.  Unlike  the  other  procession,  with  its  caustic  and  caricature  banners 
which  cut  and  hurt  and  rankled,  this  parade  only  displayed  the  stars  and  stripes, 
which  decorated  every  horse,  cart,  Wagon,  carriage,  and  were  held  by  every  man, 
woman,  and  child.  It  presented  a  remarkable  scene  —  a  line  of  winding,  rising 
and  falling  red,  white,  and  blue,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  After  a  barbecue, 
which  consumed  several  head  of  fat  cattle  and  numerous  hogs,  besides  great 
stacks  of  bread  and  barrels  of  coffee,  ex-Gov.  Geo.  T.  Anthony  delivered  the  po- 
litical address.  Its  earnestness,  its  logical  reasoning,  its  clear  and  convincing 
presentation  of  the  fundamental  principles  and  powers  of  government,  will  never 
be  forgotten,  and  had  great  influence  upon  the  thousands  who  heard.     At  that 


Famous  crossing  over  the  Neosho  on  the  Santa  Fe  Trail,  at  Council  Grov< 
after  the  flood  of  1903. 


ON   THE    SANTA    PE   TRAIL.  O 

time  he  was  five  years  ahead  of  his  party,  which  arrived  at  his  reasoning  in  the 
St.  Louis  platform  of  1896,  and  adopted  his  arguments  in  that  campaign.  I 
mention  it  here  because  it  was  an  eventful  day  in  Kansas  politics,  an  address 
which  will  long  live  as  a  political  classic,  and  was  delivered  in  this  famous  and 
historical  spot  by  one  whom  some  may  not  have  admired,  but  all  will  admit  had 
no  superior  in  our  Western  country  upon  the  stormy  forum  of  public  debate. 

The  recent  flood,  which  destroyed  the  bridge  at  this  crossing  and  submerged 
the  town  for  a  night  and  day,  had  such  swift  currents  across  this  street  that  hose- 
carts  were  overturned  and  men  and  horses  washed  from  their  feet  while  on  the 
way  to  the  burning  and  floating  lumber-yard  and  flooded  and  blazing  buildings. 
To  reach  such  a  height  and  force,  the  river  at  this  old  ford  had  to  be  about  twenty- 
five  feet  above  ordinary  water-mark. 

There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to  the  earliest  use  of  this  crossing,  but  no 
one  knows  how  far  back  it  extends.  While  it  is  true  that  there  was  no  Santa 
Fe  trail  till  the  white  man  made  it,  however,  the  old  Indian  traditions  and 
other  proofs  clearly  establish  that,  along  parts  of  its  very  course,  there  was  a  pre- 
historic, well-marked  and  used  highway  to  and  from  the  Southwest.  There  are 
strong  reasons  for  believing  that  back  to  the  days  of  the  mound  builders  this 
natural  route  was  in  use.  It  is  well  established  that  it  was  a  common  pathway 
f6r  ancient  Indian  tribes  hundreds  of  years  ago.  Many  think  that  a  part  of  Cor- 
onado's  expedition  crossed  here  in  1541,  as  pieces  of  chain  mail  and  other  ancient 
relics  have  been  found  near  here.  The  first  known  man  who  camped  at  this 
crossing  on  his  way  to  Santa  Fe  was  La  Lande,  a  French  Creole',  in  the  year  1804. 

The  year  following,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Purcell  passed  here  bound  for  the 
same  place.  William  Becknell,  a  Missouri  trader,  crossed  this  ford  in  1821,  with 
the  first  successful  trading  outfit  that  transported  merchandise  to  the  Mexican 
civilization  of  the  Southwest. 

There  is  record  of  three  men,  guided  by  a  Spaniard  named  Blanco,  who  in 
1809  went  across  to  Santa  Fe,  and  in  1817  Mr.  Choteau,  for  many  years  after- 
wards a  trader  among  the  Kaws,  covered  the  same  route.  He  being  at  that  time 
from  St.  Louis,  the  erroneous  idea  prevails  that  the  first  trading  expeditions  to 
Santa  Fe  over  this  route  originated  in  that  city.  But  to  the  old  town  of  Frank- 
lin, in  Howard  county,  Missouri,  belongs  the  honor  of  fitting  out  the  first  trad- 
ing expedition,  which  was  the  small  pack-train  of  William  Becknell,  that  made 
the  journey  in  1821. 

The  trading  expedition  of  Augustus  Storrs,  of  Franklin,  Mo.,  who  crossed 
here  in  1824,  and  his  elaborate  report  made  to  Senator  Benton,  regarding  the 
trade  possibilities  with  New  Mexico  and  northern  Old  Mexico,  stirred  up  Con- 
gress to  make  an  appropriation  for  the  survey  and  improvement  of  this  avenue  of 
coming  "  commerce  of  the  prairies." 

On  the  10th  day  of  August,  1825,  right  here  under  a  monster  old  oak,  "coun- 
cil oak,"  still  standing,  the  United  States  commission  and  chief  representatives 
of  the  powerful  Osage  nations  met  in  council  for  several  days,  and  made  that 
treaty  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Santa  Fe  trail  and  this  crossing, 
and  gave  to  this  historic  spot  the  name  "Council  Grove."  During  the  same  year, 
1825,  an  expedition  under  Major  Sibley  commenced  the  survey,  and  for  three 
years  was  engaged  in  formally  laying  out  this  highway  and  securing  the  proper 
concessions  for  its  recognition.  Within  a  few  rods  of  this  ford  still  stand  some 
of  the  old  giant  oak  trees,  estimated  to  be  over  200  years  old,  a  part  of  the  original 
11  council  grove,"  which  for  ages  has  been,  and  still  is,  the  largest  body  of  natural 
timber  from  here  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  This  being  the  last  timber  crossing 
to  Santa  Fe,  caravans  carried  a  supply  for  repairs,  which  they  hung  in  convenient 


6  KANSAS   STATE    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

logs  or  timbers  beneath  their  wagons,  and  sometimes  they  were  carried  to  Santa 
Fe  and  back,  when  not  used  in  repairing  disabled  wagons. 

The  first  caravans  to  cross  at  this  point  were  composed  of  pack-animals —  Mis- 
souri mules.  In  1824  a  few  wagons  were  successfully  used.  About  1830  the  regu- 
lation high-box  prairie-schooner  was  introduced.  These  wagons  were  drawn 
by  from  five  to  six  yoke  of  oxen  or  as  many  mules,  and  had  a  capacity  of  about 
three  tons.  These  trains  numbered  at  times  hundreds  of  wagons  and  several 
thousand  animals,  and  thus  thousands  of  tons  of  merchandise  were  transported. 
Is  it  any  wonder  this  vast  wagon  commerce  left  an  indelible  mark  on  the  plains 
or  at  a  crossing  like  this  ? 

This  fine  old  forest  of  oak,  hickory,  walnut,  and  elm,  with  its  abundance  of 
wood  and  water,  its  shade  and  shelter,  was  a  common  gathering-place  and  council 
ground  of  the  overland  caravans  westward  bound,  and  the  welcoming  oasis,  re- 
treat and  post  of  recuperation  for  the  returning  voyagers  from  the  dust,  heat, 
fatigue  and  dangers  of  the  great  plains,  which,  from  this  beautiful  and  pro- 
tecting valley,  stretched  — 

"In  airy  undulations,  far  away, 
As  if  an  ocean  in  its  gentlest  swell 
Stood  still,  with  all  its  rounded  billows  fixed 
And  motionless  forever." 

It  was  here  at  this  famous  meeting-point,  where  parties  assembled,  organized 
their  long  caravans  of  wagons  and  pack-animals,  and  elected  their  train  bosses 
and  other  officers  to  manage  their  future  journey  and  enforce  the  "code  of  the 
plains,"  which  they  had  adopted  and  which  governed.  It  was  here,  in  1842,  that 
Marcus  Whitman,  that  intrepid  Presbyterian  explorer  and  missionary,  found 
shelter  on  his  historic  winter  ride  from  Oregon  to  Washington,  the  most-noted 
long  overland  trip  in  American  history;  a  ride  that  saved  Oregon,  now  three 
states,  as  he  arrived  just  in  time  to  prevent  Tyler  and  Webster  from  trading  it 
(then  thought  to  be  "a  worthless  wilderness")  to  the  British  for  some  fishing 
privileges.  Whitman  avoided  the  impassable  snows  of  the  middle  Rockies  by 
coming  around  South  and  striking  this  trail  in  New  Mexico. 

It  was  near  this  crossing  of  the  Neosho,  in  July,  1846,  that  Colonel  Doniphan 
and  Sterling  Price  stopped  and  rested  their  regiments  of  Missouri  volunteers  on 
their  way  to  the  Mexican  war.  This  march,  from  Leavenworth  to  the  land  of 
the  Aztecs,  4000  miles,  has  no  rival  in  the  great  marches  of  the  world.  The  word 
"Neosho"  means  a  river  with  water,  so  different  from  many  Western  rivers  with 
their  dry  and  sandy  beds. 

Over  this  crossing  have  passed  most  of  the  famous  expeditions  to  the  West 
and  Southwest,  and  both  man  and  beast,  thirsty  and  famished,  welcomed  a  river 
with  water,  and  naturally  lingered  in  the  shelter  of  this  favored  spot. 

This  famous  old  crossing,  with  its  rich  traditions  and  historic  interest,  is  right 
in  the  busy  center  of  a  growing  Kansas  town,  and  will  always  be  marked  by  a 
large  bridge  and  a  convenient  ford  across  its  refreshing  waters.  This  noted 
highway  at  this  point  has  never  been  closed,  but  our  broad  Main  street,  through 
which  poured  that  great  overland  commerce,  and  which  once  resounded  with  the 
creaking,  groaning  wagons,  the  tread  of  thousands  of  patient  and  faithful  oxen 
and  sturdy  mules,  accented  by  the  emphatic  imprecations  of  the  drivers,  is  now 
lined  with  modern  business  houses,  beautiful  homes,  and  at  night  is  made  bril- 
liant with  electricity  for  a  mile  of  its  original  course. 

Multitudes  cross  here  daily  who  never  think  of  this  historic  ground  or  recall 
that  primitive  civilization  of  Indians,  hunters  and  plainsmen,  freighters,  cow- 


ON   THE    SANTA    FE   TRAIL.  *  7 

boys,  and  soldiers,  who  were  the  every  day  actors  of  those  strenuous  times,  and  if 
they  should  remember  that  period  of  our  historic  past,  they  would  probably  say : 

"Look  now,  abroad, 
Another  race  has  filled  these  borders  ; 
Wide  the  wood  recedes,  fertile  realms  are  tilled, 
The  land  is  full  of  harvests  and  green  meads." 

Years  may  come  and  go;  the  old  "  council  oak"  and  the  grove  may  wither,  de- 
cay, and  die;  our  present  civilization  may  almost  obliterate  the  Santa  Fe  trail 
and  scatter  its  quaint  and  interesting  relics,  but  as  loDg  as  Main  street  of  Coun- 
cil Grove  endures,  the  course  of  this  noted  trail,  the  magnitude  of  its  trade,  will 
be  indelibly  marked  on  earth,  and  at  no  more  interesting  and  historical  spot  than 
at  this  famous  old  crossing  over  the  Neosho  river. 


Pioneer  Store  on  Trail  at  Council  Grove.    Built  in  the  early  '50's. 
Last  chance  for  supplies. 


Under  this  oak  at  Council  Grove  treaty  was  made  with  the  Great  and  Little  Osages 

for  right  of  way  of  Santa  Fe  Trail,  August  10,  1825.    Estimated 

age  of  tree,  250  years. 


PADILLA  AND  THE   OLD   MONUMENT  NEAR 
COUNCIL  GROVE. 

Written  for  the  Kansas  State  Historical  Society  by  George  P.  Morehouse,  Topeka. 

IN  approaching  the  quaint  old  town  of  Council  Grove,  whether  overland  or 
by  rail,  the  traveler  is  almost  sure  to  notice  and  inquire  about  a  strange 
pointed  monument  crowning  the  summit  of  a  prominent  hill  near  by. 

From  certain  directions  it  can  be  seen  for  several  miles,  for  the  top  of 
the  hill  is  several  hundred  feet  above  the  lower  bottom-lands  of  the  Neosho 
valley.  If  we  take  the  trouble  to  climb  to  the  top,  we  are  richly  repaid ;  for 
we  behold  a  magnificent  scene  of  hill  and  valley,  timber  and  prairie  land- 
scape, and  realize  that  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  Kansas  views  is  spread 
out  before  us.  We  can  range  our  vision  for  twenty  miles  or  more  up  and 
down  the  valley;  and  toward  the  west  the  higher  levels  of  the  uplands— 
"Stretch  in  airy  undulations  far  away." 

Below  us  the  darker  shades  of  heavy  timber  line  make  a  winding  trail  of 
green  along  the  river  valley,  and  the  good  old  town  of  "The  Grove"  is 

snugly  tucked  away  in  the  shelter  of 
that  famous  body  of  timber  that  gave 
its  name.  By  consulting  a  map  we 
find  that  we  are  standing  near  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  section  22,  township  16,  range  8 
east,  on  the  top  of  Mount  Padilla. 

Yes,  here  is  the  monument,  rough, 
ancient,  though  symmetrical,  which 
probably  marks  the  sacred  resting- 
place  of  America's  first  Christian  mar- 
tyr, Father  Fray  Juan  de  Padilla.  In 
the  year  1542,  near  this  place,  this  pio- 
neer missionary  of  the  Cross  gave  his 
life  at  the  hands  of  those  he  had 
come  to  serve  and  save. 

The  monument  is  about  ten  feet 
high,  and  is  made  of  rough,  uncut 
limestone.  The  base  is  about  six  feet 
square,  composed  of  large  stones, 
while  the  column  is  of  smaller  ones 
and  gradually  tapers  to  the  top. 

Formerly  near  the  monument  was 
a  large  pile  of  smaller  stones  of  all 
kinds,  colors  and  shapes,  which  had  evidently  been  brought  from  a  distance 
and  reverently  deposited  as  an  offering  or  tribute  to  some  noted  personage 
or  revered  character.  To  one  accustomed  to  primitive  shrines  and  me- 
morials it  is  evident  that  long,  long  ago,  these  simple  offerings  were  brought 
to  that  which  was  regarded  as  a  most  sacred  spot.     Various  causes  in  mod- 

(45) 


The  Padilla  Monument. 


46  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

ern  times  have  robbed  this  stone  offertory  and  scattered  its  fragments. 
Unfortunately,  many  stones,  great  and  small,  have  been  carted  away  some 
of  which  had  inscriptions  of  odd  letters  and  hieroglyphics,  the  mystic  sym- 
bols of  the  past.  This  custom  was  once  followed  by  modern  visitors,  who 
have  at  times  left  their  initials,  but  the  ancient  ones  are  gone.  Located  on 
the  summit  of  this  high  elevation,  its  neat  outlines  projected  against  the 
sky,  no  matter  from  which  direction  approached,  this  crude  shaft  presents 
an  imposing  appearance. 

Not  far  from  the  foot  of  the  mount  the  clear  waters  of  a  never- failing 
spring  start  from  the  head  of  a  winding  ravine,  forming  a  small  rivulet.  At 
certain  seasons  of  the  year  the  stream  below  the  spring  is  hid  beneath  a 
thick  mesh  and  luxurious  growth  of  savory  watercress,  which  is  kept  fresh, 
cool  and  green  by  the  running  waters.  No  one  visits  this  spot  without  a  de- 
sire to  return  and  again  experience  the  magic  spell  of  the  delightful  scenery 
and  sacred  associations  of  this  historic  spot. 

Notwithstanding  its  exposed  position,  this  monument  has  withstood  the 
grinding  wear  of  time  and  the  storms  of  centuries.  In  nature's  effort  of  ob- 
literation the  elements  have  beaten  relentlessly  but  hopelessly  against  it,  and 
only  vandal  hands  have  at  intervals  desecrated  its  interesting  features.  At 
times  a  part  of  the  top  has  been  disturbed,  but  only  to  be  replaced  by  kindly 
hands,  that  its  original  proportions  might  be  preserved  as  they  were  when 
it  was  first  viewed  by  the  earliest  traveler  through  that  region. 

There  it  stands— stands,  like  some  lone  sentinel  of  the  ages— connecting 
the  misty  past  with  the  living  present,  and  is  probably  one  of  the  oldest  of 
American  landmarks. 

Who  was  this  early  Christian  martyr,  this  herald  of  the  Cross,  who  offered 
up  his  life,  away  out  here  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  nearly  two  hun- 
dred years  before  our  Pilgrim  Fathers,  as  a— 

"Band  of  exiles  moored  their  bark 

On  the  wild  New  England  shore"  ? 

From  whence  came  this  heroic  saint,  and  what  are  the  known  circum- 
stances of  his  venturing,  in  that  early  day,  so  far  from  civilization,  to  labor 
in  his  Master's  cause? 

Father  Fray  Juan  de  Padilla  was  a  native  of  Andalusia,  Spain.  He  was 
young  and  vigorous  when  he  joined  Coronado's  expedition.  His  talents  were 
of  a  high  order,  and  he  had  occupied  several  important  positions  in  Old 
Mexico.  At  one  time  he  was  guardian  of  a  convent  in  Jalisco.  He  occupied 
this  station  when  he  became  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  in  the  far  unknown 
North,  the  "terra  incognita"  of  that  day.  This  change  caused  much  per- 
sonal sacrifice  on  his  part,  for  it  involved  giving  up  high  positions  in  the 
church  and  turning  his  back  on  influential  ecclesiastical  offices  and  subject- 
ing himself  to  hardship  and  death  among  the  ignorant  savages  he  longed  to 
save.  In  faith  he  looked  far  beyond,  to  a  time  when  the  aborigines  of  the 
great  American  desert  would  become  educated  and  converted  to  the  reli- 
gion he  humbly  taught.  He  was  one  of  the  four  Franciscans  who  accom- 
panied Coronado  in  his  attempt  to  colonize  New  Mexico  in  1540.  The  other 
three  either  returned  to  civilization  or  remained  with  tribes  of  Indians  in 
New  Mexico  who  were  fairly  friendly  to  their  labors.  While  Fray  Padilla 
was  kind  and  gentle  in  his  demeanor,  yet  he  was  full  of  energy,  and  punished 
all  moral  evil-doers  who  tried  to  make  things  unpleasant  in  Coronado's  camp.. 


Padilla  and  the  Old  Monument.  47 

An  iron  constitution  and  impetuous  soul  greatly  assisted  him  in  stamping  his 
influence  upon  all  around  him.  At  first  he  labored  among  the  Moqui  Pueblos, 
and  they  seem  to  have  received  him  gladly.  It  seems  that  he  also  went  among 
the  Zunis,  but  rounded  up  at  the  winter  quarters  of  Coronado,  on  the  Rio 
Grande  river,  where  the  army  rested  before  continuing  the  historic  journey 
to  the  fabled  Quivira. 

It  seems  that  the  incentive  to  this  adventurous  expedition  was  furnished 
by  the  reports  of  Cabeza  de  Vaca  and  his  companions,  the  survivors  of 
the  ill  fated  Narvaez  expedition.  At  Pecos  Coronado  became  interested 
in  certain  stories  of  a  captive  Indian  prisoner  held  as  a  slave  who 
claimed  that  he  was  born  on  the  far  eastern  border  of  the  great  plains.  The 
Spaniards  called  this  odd  individual  the  Turk.  This  was  on  account  of  the 
method  of  dressing  his  head  and  hair,  it  being  closely  shaven,  except  a 
small  tuft  of  hair  left  growing  on  the  top  of  his  head.  In  other  words  he 
had  left  his  scalp-lock,  after  the  manner  of  the  Osage,  Kansas  and  two  or 
three  other  tribes,  who  dressed  their  hair  in  that  manner.  He  probably 
belonged  to  one  of  those  tribes  He  represented  to  the  Spaniards  that  far 
away  in  the  east  there  was  a  rich  country  called  Quivira.  He  told  them 
that  this  people  was  rich  in  gold,  silver  and  other  precious  metals,  and  had 
other  elements  of  wealth.  His  representations  made  an  impression  upon 
the  minds  of  the  Spaniards,  who  believed  all  he  said.  It  is  now  considered 
that  the  Turk,  after  he  had  observed  that  they  placed  reliance  upon  his 
statements,  connived  with  the  Pueblo  Indians  in  a  scheme  to  get  rid  of  the 
Spaniards,  by  sending  them  far  into  the  desert,  where  they  would  perish. 
The  Turk  was  also  planning  for  an  opportunity  to  return  to  his  tribe  The 
Spaniards  believed  his  statements  and  expected  to  find  a  rich  and  wealthy 
country  with  cities  and  great  stores  of  precious  metals,  and  a  class  of  half- 
civilized  people.  They  had  found  the  Mexicans  using  gold  for  ornaments 
and  also  knew  of  the  reports  of  wealth  from  Peru.  When  the  Turk  pointed 
to  gold,  which  he  seemed  to  recognize  as  valuable,  they  thought  that  he 
was  truthful;  but  he  might  have  been  mistaken,  not  knowing  the  difference 
between  crude  gold  and  copper  and  pyrites  of  iron— the  latter  frequently 
giving  a  valuable  appearance  to  rocks.  When  the  Pueblos  observed  their 
unwelcome  guests  departing  they  probably  induced  the  Turk  to  misguide 
and  lead  them,  if  possible,  to  destruction.  The  expedition  started  out  early 
in  1541  [on  the  3d  of  May.]  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  give  an 
extended  account  of  Coronado 's  expedition,  except  in  so  far  as  it  is  neces- 
sary to  set  forth  the  movements  of  the  famous  missionary  Padilla.  Coro- 
nado met  with  little  opposition  as  he  journeyed  eastward. 

Somewhere  in  the  western  or  southern  great  plains  he  left  the  main  body 
of  his  men,  and  with  thirty  horsemen  went  northward  in  search  of  Quivira, 
reaching  the  Kansas  plains  in  the  later  days  of  June.  Of  course,  to  the 
Spanish,  the  expedition  was  a  great  disappointment.  However,  with  vhat 
a  limited  vision  did  those  historic  gold-seekers  view  things  ?  They  little 
knew  that  the  region  they  then  passed  over,  although  it  might  have  looked 
like  a  great  desert,  was  in  many  ways  the  garden  spot  of  the  West.  They 
traversed  what  is  now  the  richest  portion  of  Oklahoma  and  the  great  wheat 
belt  of  Kansas,  where,  although  precious  metals  form  a  small  part  of  the 
wealth,  yet  the  aggregate  value  of  the  millions  of  bushels  of  golden  grain 
annually  produced  far  outstrips  the  gold  and  silver  productions  of  any  state 
or  country  and  the  wildest  dreams  of  Spanish  avarice.     It  may  be  interest- 


48  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

ing  to  gather  and  work  out  from  the  full  reports  just  where  Quivira  was 
located.  Several  educated  men  were  with  Coronado  and  published  accounts 
of  their  movements  and  all  that  they  observed.  These  accounts  are  not 
only  interesting  in  showing  the  condition  and  products  of  the  country  at  the 
time,  but  are  historically  important,  as  they  set  forth  things  so  minutely 
that  the  location  of  Quivira  has  been  reduced  to  a  certainty. 

Padilla  went  with  Coronado  on  his  farthest  wanderings  to  Quivira,  and 
back  to  the  Spanish  settlement.  The  year  following,  1542,  he  returned  to 
Quivira  to  continue  in  the  missionary  work  he  had  commenced.  On  these 
trips  he  always  walked.  On  his  last  trip,  after  he  had  labored  among  the 
strange  people  for  some  time,  he  met  his  death,  and  thus  became  not  only 
the  first  missionary  of  the  Cross  in  the  great  Mississippi  valley,  but  the  first 
Christian  martyr  in  what  is  now  the  United  States  of  America.  The  fact 
of  his  work  and  his  death  in  this  then  far-away  wilderness  is  undisputed; 
but  there  may  be  some  question  as  to  just  where  he  was  killed  and  the  exact 
location  of  his  grave.  After  one  studies  all  the  different  accounts  of  the 
Coronado  expedition  to  Quivira  and  what  is  known  of  Fray  Padilla's  subse- 
quent return  to  labor  among  that  people,  and  his  tragic  death,  it  is  easy  to 
mark  the  borders  of  that  country,  and  also  substantially  prove  that  he  met 
his  death  near  Council  Grove,  and  that  the  before-mentioned  memorial  stone 
or  monument  on  Mount  Padilla  probably  marks  his  grave.  The  writer  realizes 
that  another  place  (Herington,  Kan.)  is  claimed  to  be  in  the  neighborhood 
of  his  last  resting-place,  and  that  his  memory  has  been  honored  with  a  monu- 
ment there.     This  is  well,  but  they  bring  forth  no  proof  of  the  claim. 

Coronado,  considering  his  expedition  a  failure,  after  resting  for  a  time  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  left  for  Old  Mexico;  but  Fray  Juan  Padilla 
and  Fray  Luis  remained  at  the  river  with  Andres  Docampo,  a  Portuguese 
soldier,  two  Donados,  named  Lucas  and  Sebastian,  and  some  Mexican  Indian 
boys.  Padilla's  zeal  and  courageous  temperament  urged  him  to  return 
again  across  the  waste  of  distance  to  the  far-away  Quivira.  It  was  no  con- 
cern to  him  that  that  country  and  its  people  did  not  possess  the  elements  of 
wealth  to  satisfy  the  avaricious  dreams  of  the  Spaniards.  These  simple, 
primitive  heathen  had  souls  to  save,  and  he  remembered  them  and  longed  to 
return  and  establish  the  religion  of  the  Cross  in  their  midst— but  what  an 
undertaking  it  was  for  a  lone  priest  and  his  three  companions !  Some  time 
during  the  fall  of  1542  he  prepared  for  the  journey  of  over  1000  miles,  and 
taking  with  him  the  needed  effects  for  saying  mass,  in  company  with  his 
three  companions,  he  set  out  on  this  unique  trip.  They  were  probably  guided 
back  to  Quivira  by  some  Indians  who  had  accompanied  Coronado  the  year 
before.  Their  course  was  more  direct  than  Coronado 's  first  route.  They 
started  from  Bernalillo,  on  the  river  above  the  present  Albuquerque,  and 
passed  through  Pecos  and  to  the  northeast,  probably  entering  our  state  near 
the  southwest  corner  and  proceeding  on  to  the  land  of  the  Quiviras.  They 
reached  their  destination  in  safety,  and  were  well  received  by  the  Indian 
tribe  they  had  visited  the  year  before.  Coronado  had  erected  a  cross  at  one 
of  the  villages,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  the  Smoky  Hill  valley, 
somewhere  near  where  Junction  City  now  stands.  Padilla,  from  this  start- 
ing-point, began  his  labors,  and  seems  to  have  had  great  success  and  influence 
among  those  primitive  people.  However,  after  a  time  he  decided  to  depart 
and  work  among  some  other  tribes,  or  at  least  to  visit  them  temporarily. 
This  has  always  been  considered  an  imprudent  act  on  his  part  and  came  from. 


Padilla  and  the  Old  Monument.  49 

his  not  being  skilled  in  the  suspicious  and  jealous  nature  of  the  Indian.  It 
has  been  said  that  "A  missionary  who  has  been  well  treated  by  one  tribe 
always  makes  a  mistake  and  is  regarded  with  suspicion  when  he  goes  to 
another."  The  Indian  nature  regards  the  missionary  who  attains  influence 
over  them  with  great  reverence,  really  superstition,  and  believes  him  to  be 
a  great  Medicine  man,  and  whatever  good  he  brings  departs  when  he  leaves 
them. 

Castenada  says:  "A  friar  named  Juan  de  Padilla  remained  in  this  prov- 
ince, together  with  a  Spanish-Portuguese  and  a  negro  and  a  half-blood  and 
some  Indians  from  the  province  of  Capothan  [Capetlan],  in  New  Spain. 
They  killed  the  friar  because  he  wanted  to  go  to  the  province  of  the  Guas, 
who  were  their  enemies.  The  Spaniard  escaped  by  taking  flight  on  a  mare, 
and  afterwards  reached  New  Spain,  coming  out  by  way  of  Panuco.  The 
Indians  from  New  Spain  who  accompanied  the  friar  were  allowed  by  the 
murderers  to  bury  him,  and  then  they  followed  the  Spaniard  and  overtook 
him.     This  Spaniard  was  a  Portuguese  named  Campo."  J 

It  seems  from  other  accounts  that  after  leaving  the  Quivirans  to  labor 
among  other  tribes,  and  after  more  than  one  day's  journey,  Padilla  met 
evil-disposed  Indians  of  the  nation  he  was  leaving.  They  had  probably  fol- 
lowed him  for  a  double  purpose:  First,  they  were  jealous  because  he  was 
going  to  other  tribes  who  were  enemies  of  the  Quivirans;  and,  second,  the 
curious  ornaments  and  belongings  Padilla  had  with  him  excited  their  cupidity. 
They  desired  to  possess  them,  believing  they  had  mysterious  powers  (good 
medicine) ,  and  they  disliked  all  of  this  to  be  transferred  to  their  enemies. 

It  is  fairly  well  established  that  the  center  of  Quivira  was  near  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Junction  City  or  Enterprise.  More  than  one  day's  journey  would 
bring  Padilla  as  far  as  Council  Grove,  about  thirty-five  miles  distant. 

The  enemies  of  the  Quivirans  (Pawnees)  in  those  days  were  the  Escan- 
saques  (Kansa),  according  to  the  account  of  Onate,  who  met  them  during 
his  expedition  to  Quivira  in  1601.     He  says  they  were  hereditary  enemies. 

The  Kansa  lived  to  the  southeastward  of  Quivira,  and  Padilla  would 
naturally  leave  the  valley  along  which  that  nation  lived  and  could  easily 
reach  the  headwaters  of  the  Neosho,  and  that  valley  would  present  a  plain 
route  upon  which  to  travel.  Doubtless  he  was  on  his  way  to  the  early  an- 
cestors of  the  Kansa  nation  when  he  was  killed.  But— strange  circumstance— 
when  followed  and  killed  by  the  jealous  Quivirans,  he  had  reached  a  spot 
which  afterwards  became  the  long-occupied  home  of  the  very  tribe  he  was 
trying  to  reach,  the  Kansa. 

May  it  not  be  that  this  is  the  reason  this  tribe  always  regarded  this  spot, 
his  grave  monument,  as  sacred  to  the  memory  of  some  great  white  medicine 
man,  "Nic-kah-ma-kah-tan-gah-skah  ";  that  in  some  way  they  knew  of  his 
mission;  that  he  had  been  cruelly  slain  by  their  enemies,  the  Quivirans 
( Pawnees) ,  while  on  his  way  to  scatter  the  blessings  of  his  saintly  life  along 
the  pathway  of  the  Kanza  nation  ? 

But  it  was  not  to  be,  and  the  good  father  never  lived  to  see  the  faces  of 
that  nation  he  was  seeking  to  serve  and  save. 

While  there  are  different  versions  of  just  how  Padilla  met  his  death,  I 
think  that  the  weight  of  authority  shows  that  he  was  killed  by  the  Quivi- 
rans, although  they  might  have  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  their  enemies 
killed  him.     It  is  said  that  when  he  saw  the  evil  intentions  of  his  murderers 

Note  1.— Fourteenth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  529. 


50  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

he  urged  his  companions  to  escape,  while  he  serenely  faced  the  charging 
savages,  and  met  his  death  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  One  of  the  accounts 
speaks  of  his  body  being  covered  with  a  pile  of  "innumerable  stones."  This 
surely  corresponds  with  the  place  near  Council  Grove,  and  these  "innumer- 
able rocks"  were  finally  formed  into  this  crude  but  picturesque  monument. 
After  much  inquiry  and  search  during  many  years  past,  I  know  of  no  arti- 
ficial pile  of  stone  in  the  state  as  large  as  this  one,  which  dates  back  of  the 
memory  of  man  and  is  known  to  have  been  in  existence  long  before  white 
men  or  Indians  of  modern  times  visited  or  occupied  this  part  of  Kansas.  To 
even  the  casual  observer  it  appears  to  be  an  ancient  memorial  of  some  kind, 
an  old  sacred  spot,  with  an  almost  hidden  history.  It  has  been  understood 
that  he  was  killed  near  some  springs.  Near  the  foot  of  this  mount,  in  the 
ravine  near  by,  are  the  well-known  Watercress  springs  above  described. 

The  following  is  a  fragmentary  account  of  this  missionary  expedition  of 
Father  Padilla  as  told  by  the  writer,  Moto  Padilla.* 

"He  reached  Quivira  and  prostrated  himself  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
which  he  found  in  the  same  place  where  he  had  set  it  up ;  and  all  around  it 
clean,  as  he  had  charged  them  to  keep  it,  which  rejoiced  him,  and  then  he 
began  the  duties  of  a  teacher  and  apostle  of  that  people  ;  and  finding  them 
teachable  and  well  disposed,  his  heart  burned  within  him,  and  it  seemed  to 
him  that  the  number  of  souls  of  that  village  was  but  a  small  offering  to 
God,  and  he  sought  to  enlarge  the  bosom  of  our  mother,  the  Holy  Church, 
that  she  might  receive  all  those  he  was  told  were  to  be  found  at  greater 
distances.  He  left  Quivira,  attended  by  a  small  company,  against  the  will 
of  the  village  Indians,  who  loved  him  as  their  father. 

"At  more  than  a  day's  journey  the  Indians  met  him  on  the  warpath,  and 
knowing  the  evil  intent  of  those  barbarians,  he  asked  the  Portuguese  that  as 
he  was  on  horseback  he  should  flee  and  take  under  his  protection  the  oblates 
and  the  lads  who  could  thus  run  away  and  escape  .  .  .  And  the  blessed 
father,  kneeling  down,  offered  up  his  life,  which  he  had  sacrificed  for  the 
winning  of  souls  to  God,  attaining  the  ardent  longings  of  his  soul,  the 
felicity  of  being  killed  by  the  arrows  of  those  barbarous  Indians,  who  threw 
him  into  a  pit,  covering  his  body  with  innumerable  stones.  .  .  .  It  is 
said  that  the  Indians  had  gone  out  to  murder  the  blessed  father  in  order  to 
steal  the  ornaments,  and  it  was  remembered  that  at  his  death  were  seen 
great  prodigies,  as  it  were  the  earth  flooded,  globes  of  fire,  comets  and  ob- 
scuration of  the  sun." 

General  Davis  in  his  Conquest  of  New  Mexico,  page  231,  gives  the  follow- 
ing translation  from  an  old  Spanish  manuscript  at  Santa  Fe : 

"When  Coronado  returned  to  Mexico  he  left  behind,  among  the  Indians 
of  Cibola,  the  father  fray  Francisco  Juan  de  Padilla,  the  father  fray  Juan 
de  la  Cruz,  and  a  Portuguese  named  Andres  del  Campo.  Soon  after  the  Span- 
iards departed,  Padilla  and  the  Portuguese  set  off  in  search  of  the  country 
of  the  Grand  Quivira,  where  the  former  understood  there  were  innumerable 
souls  to  be  saved.  After  traveling  many  days  they  reached  a  large  settle- 
ment in  the  Quivira  country.  The  Indians  came  out  to  receive  them  in  battle 
array,  when  the  friar,  knowing  their  intentions,  told  the  Portuguese  and  his 
attendants  to  take  to  flight,  while  he  would  await  their  coming,  in  order 
that  they  might  vent  their  fury  on  him  as  they  ran.  The  former  took  flight, 
and  placing  themselves  on  a  height  within  view,  saw  what  happened  to  the 
friar.  Padilla  awaited  their  coming  upon  his  knees,  and  when  they  arrived 
where  he  was,  they  immediately  put  him  to  death.  .  .  .  The  Portuguese 
and  his  attendants  made  their  escape,  and  ultimately  arrived  safely  in  Mex- 
ico, where  he  told  what  had  occurred." 

The  Portuguese  and  the  boys  wandered  for  years  before  reaching  the  Span 

*  Mota  Padilla,  cap.  XXXIII,  sees.  8,  9  and  10,  p,  167,  quoted  by  Winship  in  Fourteenth  An- 
nual Report,  Bureau  Ethnology,  pp.  535-536. 


Padilla  and  the  Old  Monument.  51 

ish  settlements,  and  it  is  unfortunate  that  more  is  not  known  of  their  history. 
They  must  have  returned  prior  to  1552,  as  their  arrival  at  Tampico  on  the 
Gulf  is  mentioned  by  Gomara  in  his  Conquest  of  Mexico  published  that 
year.2 

Much  more  would  be  known  about  Padilla  and  those  early  expeditions 
into  Kansas,  had  it  not  been  for  the  foolish  destruction  of  great  piles  of  in- 
valuable historical  manuscripts  at  Santa  Fe  a  few  years  ago,  where  they 
were  used  to  kindle  fires  and  the  remnant  finally  sold  for  junk.3 

As  before  suggested,  I  believe  that  there  was  a  lingering  idea  in  the 
mind  of  the  Kansa  to  pay  some  tribute  to  the  monument  and  the  place  it 
marked— a  kind  of  traditional  reverence  or  homage  for  something  they  did 
not  quite  understand,  but  to  some  one  whom  they  knew  had  been  a  would- 
be  benefactor.  While  they  buried  many  of  their  dead  on  the  second-bottom 
slopes  below  the  monument  during  their  many  years'  stay  at  Council  Grove, 
yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  monument  existed  long  before  the 
Kansa  Indians  moved  from  the  Kaw  valley  to  their  Council  Grove  reserva- 
tion; and  that  they  never  claimed  that  it  was  their  monument  or  marked 
the  grave  of  an  Indian  chief;  but  that  it  was  the  marker  for  a  great  white 
benefactor  or  medicine  man. 

The  first  white  traveler  across  the  plains  took  notice  of  this  high  promi- 
nence and  its  curious  monument.  Approaching  the  famous  old  crossing  of 
the  Santa  Fe  trail  over  the  Neosho  from  either  direction,  it  could  be  seen 
for  several  miles.  Some  old-timers  used  to  call  it  a  guide,  although  it  was 
a  mile  or  more  from  the  trail.  This  tended  to  give  it  rather  a  modern  aspect, 
but  it  is  known  that  it  antedates  anything  pertaining  to  that  noted  highway. 
When  a  boy  I  thought  that  it  possibly  had  a  trail  significance;  but  when  I 
found  that  it  was  there  before  trail  days,  and  before  the  Kansa  Indians  were 
moved  there,  and  that  it  had  a  mysterious  influence  on  the  Indian  mind,  I 
could  see  that  it  marked  the  grave  of  some  noted  character  who  had  been 
lost  to  modern  historians. 

Years  afterwards,  reading  about  Coronado  and  his  expedition,  and  espe- 
cially regarding  the  saintly  Padilla,  who  had  been  with  Coronado  and  then 
returned  upon  that  first  religious  mission  to  the  Indians  of  our  great  central 
plains,  I  began  studying  the  matter,  and  the  more  I  read  and  studied  the 
Spanish  translations  and  comments  upon  Padilla  and  his  mission,  I  became 
convinced  that  there  is  no  other  reasonable  hypothesis  than  that  the  first 
Christian  martyr  of  our  country  was  killed  near  the  present  Council  Grove, 
and  that  this  curious  old  monument  marks  his  grave. 

It  may  be  asked,  How  could  the  Kansa  Indians  have  any  traditions 
reaching  back  to  the  time  of  Coronado  or  Padilla? 

They  had  legends  that  related  circumstances  of  the  flood  over  the  whole 
earth.  They  told  of  a  time  when  their  ancestors  came  from  "the  great  sea 
near  the  rising  sun,"  from  whence  came  their  mysterious  sacred  shells,  al- 
though this  migration  was  doubtless  long  prior  to  1500. 

Note  2.— Bureau  of  Ethnology,  vol.  14,  page  401. 

Note  3.  -  Gen.  W.  H.  H.  Davis,  former  governor  of  New  Mexico,  stated  in  reply  to  an  inquiry 
that  when  he  revisited  Santa  Fe,  a  few  years  ago,  he  learned  that  one  of  his  successors  in  the 
post  of  governor  of  the  territory,  having  dispaired  of  disposing  of  the  immense  mass  of  old  docu- 
ments and  records  deposited  in  his  office  by  the  slow  process  of  using  them  to  kindle  fires,  had 
sold  the  entire  lot— an  invaluable  collection  of  material  bearing  on  the  history  of  the  Southwest 
and  its  early  European  and  native  inhabitants-as  junk.— Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  bu- 
reau of  American  Ethnology,  p.  535. 


52  Kansas  State  Historical  Society. 

The  translations  of  Spanish  manuscripts  is  proving  beyond  doubt  that  the 
Kansa  were  here  in  our  state  long  prior  to  1601,  when  met  by  Juan  de  Ohate, 
who  called  them  Escansaques,  the  troublesome  people,  for  they  at  that  early 
day  were  making  their  annual  raids  on  the  Quivirans,  they  being  hereditary 
enemies.  If  they  were  hereditary  enemies  of  the  Quivirans  in  1601,  they 
were  doubtless  their  enemies  fifty  or  sixty  years  before  that  time,  or  at  the 
time  that  Padilla  went  on  his  mission  to  the  Quivirans,  when  he  lost  his  life 
in  attempting  to  carry  the  story  of  the  Cross  to  their  enemies.  As  has  been 
suggested  before,  it  may  be  reasonably  presumed  that  these  enemies  were 
the  Escansaques,  or,  as  later  known,  the  Kansa  Indians,  to  which  Padilla 
was  going  when  the  jealous  and  disappointed  Quivirans  killed  him. 

What  a  change  it  might  have  wrought  in  the  general  character  of  the 
Kansa  had  Padilla  reached  them  and  labored  in  their  midst  for  years.  Even 
the  thoughtless  Quivirans,  after  killing  this  holy  man,  seemed  to  have  re- 
lented when  they  remembered  his  kindly  acts  in  their  behalf.  While  their 
cruel  act  would  prevent  his  going  to  erect  crosses  among  their  enemies,  it 
would  not  bring  him  back  to  perform  services  in  the  shadow  of  those  he  had 
set  up  in  their  midst. 

One  account  says  that  the  Quivirans  even  permitted,  his  companions  to 
bury  his  body  in  a  decent  manner.  What  an  impressive  scene  it  must  have 
been  to  these  savages  of  the  plains,  when  the  two  oblates,  Lucas  and  Se- 
bastian, his  faithful  pupils,  clad  as  they  were  "in  friar's  gowns,"  tenderly 
laid  away  their  devoted  teacher  in  that  lonely  martyr's  grave  midway  be- 
tween the  great  oceans!  What  a  subject  for  the  brush  of  an  artist,  as  they 
perform  a  brief  service  according  to  the  rites  of  their  church  and  place  the 
first  courses  in  that  crude  monument  which  has  lasted  to  this  day !  Sorrow- 
fully these  religious  youths  hasten  from  the  scene,  overtake  the  Portuguese, 
and  together  they  commence  that  remarkable  period  of  several  years'  wan- 
dering. Part  of  the  time  they  are  thought  to  have  been  in  captivity,  but 
finally  they  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  said  that  during  all  of  this 
journey  they  were  followed  by  a  faithful  dog,  and  the  rabbits  and  game  he 
caught  often  saved  their  lives. 

During  this  trip  they  made  a  rude  cross  of  wood,  and  took  turns  in  carry- 
ing it,  faithfully  observing  the  religious  admonitions  of  their  superior  they 
had  left  behind,  "trusting  that  in  such  company  they  would  not  go  astray." 

Sebastian  died  soon  after  their  return;  Lucas  became  a  missionary  to  the 
natives  of  New  Mexico. 

It  is  well  to  preserve  the  history  of  first  things  in  Kansas,  to  note  the 
ancient  landmarks,  and  above  all  to  dwell  upon  the  bold,  heroic  characters 
who  first  trod  our  borders.  Let  us  not  infer  that  the  life  of  Padilla  and  his 
tragic  death  was  without  its  powerful  influence  for  good,  or  that  this  crude 
monument  is  without  its  lessons.  Let  it  ever  remind  us  of  the  devoted  and 
consecrated  life  of  America's  first  Christian  martyr,  and  also  of  the  lines  of 
Owen  Merideth : 

' '  No  stream  from  its  source 
Flows  seaward,  how  lonely  so  e'er  its  course, 
But  some  land  is  gladden 'd.     No  star  ever  rose 
And  set  without  influence  somewhere.     Who  knows 
What  earth  needs  from  earth's  lowliest  creatures  ? 
No  life 

Can  be  pure  in  its  purpose,  and  strong  in  its  strife, 
And  all  life  not  be  purer  and  stronger  thereby. ' ' 


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